


Belle du Jour

by TheQueensBlade



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: A LITTLE Cassandra X Cullen but it's not what you think, Anal Sex, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Awkward Cullen, Awkward Cullen Rutherford, Brothels, Canon Divergence, Cullen Angst on Its Way Stay Tuned I'M SORRY CULLEN, Cullen Rutherford Smut, Cullen Sandwich, Cullen Smut, Cullen X Two Orlesian Whores, Cullen and Male Inquisitor Trevelyan Go to an Orlesian Whorehouse and Cullen's Mind is Forever Blown, Cullenlingus, Cunnilingus, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Multi, Oral Sex, Orlais, Orlesian Brothel, Orlesian Whores, Orlesians, Sex Mage, Sex Magic, Sexy Cullen, ménage à trois
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-27
Updated: 2016-04-13
Packaged: 2018-05-23 11:02:43
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 28,651
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6114499
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheQueensBlade/pseuds/TheQueensBlade
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When the Inquisitor and his Commander's clever thinking save the life of the Empress, she wants to return the favor - sending the two of them to the best brothel in Val Royeaux. And Cullen has been given a special coin, a token he can redeem to meet "the finest whore in all of Orlais". </p><p>What he doesn't know is she is no ordinary woman but a powerful, charismatic sex mage - and Cullen's night with her will change his life forever.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Coin

**Author's Note:**

> (First chapter is set up. Then comes the smut. Please wait for it.)

Cullen was very aware that he and the Inquisitor were standing in the middle of a street in Val Royeaux yelling at each other, and that they were causing a scene. It was just one of many times in the past year when Cullen realized he was dealing with someone he cared for very much but drove him utterly crazy. It was like being back home on the farm arguing with his siblings, except today he was yelling about _patronizing a brothel_.

“Rutherford, I demand you step through those doors or I shall – relieve you of your command. Permanently."  
  
“Maxwell, please – “  
  
“You’ve been bloody useful to the Inquisition, so now I order you to relax! You will go in there and you will have _fun_ with a _lady_ we are going to pay. There’s no shame in it, is there?”

Max stopped mid-tirade to wink at two Orlesian girls passing by, hiding their smiles behind fans. Trevelyan stepped closer to Cullen after they passed. “Listen mate, is that you like boys? I didn’t take you for the type, honestly. We can take the carriage back to where we dropped off Dorian and Iron Bull, and I won’t tell a soul. The Vint and the Qun, on the other hand –“

Cullen pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance. “Inquisitor…”

  
He felt Max grab his gloved hand, pulling open the fingers and pressing something into his palm.

“Look. I didn’t want to tell you at first because I’ve seen how smug you get after winning a round of chess, but the Empress gave me this coin – to give to you, and you alone. She claims if you turn it in here at the Gilded Mask…”

Maxwell leaned closer, his voice devoid of jest. “ – you will enjoy the finest whore of all of Orlais. _Orlais,_ Cullen. These people invented whipped cream, lacy smalls and the most pleasurable bedroom tactics known to man. Now please, for the sake of diplomacy, take the coin, meet the girl – and you can sit and play bloody chess with her if you like.”

Cullen opened his hand and looked at the coin. It was gold, with a delicate filigreed pattern etched into its surface. He rubbed it with his thumb pad while looking up at the whorehouse. It looked like any other sumptuous villa in the city. He thought he saw a curtain on the second floor part and flutter for a second, but he saw no one. Had someone been looking down at him? It gave him a ping of nervous adrenaline – and it felt good.

“Alright, Maxwell. You shall get your way, as you always do.”

The Inquisitor grasped him on the shoulder, a huge grin cracking across the dashing rogue’s face before pulling him into a tight bear hug. From over Max’s shoulder Cullen watched another flirtatious Orlesian woman walking down the sidewalk, smiling at their display of brotherhood. It was pretty obvious to Cullen that Maxwell was a little drunk already from their previous stop at a pub. “I love you, man – did you know that? You’ve been very good to me, even with all the scowling and whinging and disagreeing. You’ve kept me alive, for fuck’s sake! You work too hard! You _deserve this._ Now. Let’s go inside and get you – a good – hard – shag.”

Maxwell stepped back from the embrace, looking at his friend. Cullen gave the coin a lucky little flip, catching it easily. “Will you do me just one small favor, Trevelyan?”

“Anything, friend. Ask it of me.”  
“Don’t tell Cassandra.”

*****

  
The lobby of the Gilded Mask was incredibly decadent, as Cullen assumed it would be. The air was heavy with exotic spice and incense, and all the furniture was covered in velvet brocade, embroidered with twining roses. Cullen noticed there were no windows, so candles were ablaze all over the room. Maxwell strode across the thick carpet with confidence, chirping with good cheer.

“Hello? Anyone home? We are love-starved men in need of kind-hearted women!”

An older woman in an elegant gown and black mask across her eyes came sweeping down the stairs. When she saw who was standing in the foyer, she emitted a sound of warm approval.

“Ah, the famed Inquisitor himself! We are truly honored to have you grace us with your –“

Maxwell waved her effusive compliments away. “Commander, show her the coin if you will.”

The hostess approached him with an appraising gaze. “And what coin could this be?”

Cullen held his hand out and passed her the coin. The woman gasped, taking it closer to a nearby sconce of candles for a closer look. “It cannot be. This is – very rare indeed. The Empress, she must be – very much in your debt, messeres.”

Maxwell looked up the stairs in vague annoyance. “Yes, yes, we saved her life the other day, and I seal up big holes in the sky that spew demons into our world. These are very ordinary things to men like us. Now, come along Madame, where are the lovely ladies?”

The woman waved her hand at Maxwell in a little “no no” gesture. “I am sorry, Inquisitor. The coin is only for the man bearing it. You will have to pay for your own – services.”

Maxwell scoffed. “I’ve plenty of gold of my own.” He turned to look at Cullen. “My currency, not the Inquisition’s, mind you. I know you don’t think very highly of my morals, Cullen – but when it comes to money, I only spend my father’s.” Cullen rolled his eyes at him in affectionate annoyance as the Hostess rang a little bell on a nearby side table.

“Gentlemen, I must take this upstairs for verification. In the meantime, Inquisitor, Commander, do make yourselves at home.”

She ushered them toward an opulent salon, with a bar in the corner. Maxwell poured them two glasses of whiskey and then the two men raised them toward each other. The Inquisitor gave him another content smile. “To you - not thinking about the trebuchets for six whole hours.”

“And to you, not getting us thrown out of here. Can you behave in a civilized fashion for once?”  
“Why Cullen, you act as though I wanted to swing naked from the ceiling, waving my willy at everyone.”

He looked up toward the glittering chandelier above them, as though he were measuring whether he could make the leap or not. Cullen gave him a smack to draw his attention away – the room was being flooded with beautiful women, all in very provocative stages of undress.

Cullen swallowed – never in his entire life had he been around this many gorgeous women before, and every one them was stunning in her own way.

Maxwell spun around, glee twinkling in his eyes. “Well, hello, hello one and all. Allow me a quick introduction. I, am the Inquisitor! The Herald of Andraste, in the flesh, aren’t I something else?”

The women all cooed at him. Cullen knew they knew who he was already, it was pretty obvious. “And this man, over here, is the Commander of my army: a former Templar, a true champion, hero, and trusted friend. He is a beast on the battlefield – and in the bedroom!” Maxwell shot him a wink as women crowded around him.

Cullen looked down at the one currently caressing his bicep. She was auburn-haired, green eyed – all ivory skin and dipping curves. On his left, an olive-skinned beauty with silky black hair was tracing her fingers over the scars on his forearm, gazing at him with expressive brown eyes.

“Maxwell?”

The Inquisitor was already slipping the robe off a girl’s shoulders, brushing her blonde locks away from her breasts for a closer look. “What _is it,_ Cullen.”

“Sh-should I – wait? Wait for... Celene’s girl. I should wait for her?”

Maxwell had turned to another girl nearby, divesting her of her sheer chiffon top as well. He looked at both of them sternly. “I want you to kiss each other.”

The two girls exchanged a coy smile before they embraced each other and began kissing each other deeply. Cullen stared, mouth agape, as the blonde and the brunette pressed their breasts together, emitting small moans.

“Cullen, look what I made them do! And I haven’t even paid yet, this is free!”

The two girls pulled away from each other with some annoyance, slipping their robes back on quickly. Cullen laughed at the petulant look on Trevelyan’s face. “It’s what you deserve, Max. Why should they give you a look?”

Maxwell sat down on the couch, pulling the two girls with him, putting one on each knee. “I just wanted to have a little taste, see if they were to my liking. We’re going to be here until midnight – one must choose carefully.”

Trevelyan looked at the two he had chosen and then waved them away. “Alright, that’s enough of you, who else is up for consideration? Come along, I’m my father’s favorite son and we’re quite rich, so please be more excited.”

Cullen watched with some disbelief as the women bickered amongst each other about who was to sit next on the Inquisitor’s lap. Cullen looked down at his empty glass and was about to cross the room to refill it when he felt a light touch upon his wrist. “Please Ser, will you allow me?”

Cullen looked down at the petite creature before him. She was so pale, with graceful, pointed ears peeking through her long copper-colored hair, her cheekbones and chin covered in a delicate _vallaslin_ that only augmented her beauty. The swirls travelled down her shoulders and sides of her torso. His mouth ran dry again, wondering where else she was tattooed. He let go of the glass, realizing he had been clutching it as he gawked at her. The elf lead him over to the bar, holding his calloused hand with her tiny one.

“What were you drinking, Ser?”  
“Whiskey straight.”

She poured him a perfect finger of the amber liquid and swirled it for him a little before giving it to him. “ _Almien,_ as my people say, Ser. Cheers.”

He raised his glass to her, mesmerized by her. “Your eyes – they remind me of the forest.”

She smiled at him with kindness. “Yes, a line I have heard before.”  
Cullen blushed. “I am, sorry. This is not exactly – the sort of situation I find myself in frequently.”  
“I can tell, Ser. Who wears armor to a brothel?”  
“Are you teasing me, mademoiselle?”  
“Only a little.” She leaned in and clutched his arm, looking up at him. “I wouldn’t want to tease too much. I’d want you to choose me tonight. Why don’t we sit down?”

Maxwell had all the women practically queued up to meet him, flirt with him, rub his thighs and the growing bulge in his pants. He watched the Inquisitor kiss a freckled red-head, and then turn to kiss a Rivani girl with smooth ebony skin and a fluffy crown of golden girls. Cullen figured he could handle this five foot tall Elvish beauty on his own. The girl pulled him down onto a divan in the corner, one of her thighs thrown across his.

“As we have established, you don’t seem like the whorehouse type. What brings you here, Commander?”

Cullen sipped his whiskey. “I don’t know if the Inquisitor spoke highly of my counsel, or the Empress or someone else was just – fond of me – but, she gave me a special coin I could use here. Maxwell advised me it would be – rude – not to use her favor.”

 “A coin, Ser? What kind of coin?”

“Gold, etched with filigree, both sides – so delicate you could almost see through it. Twining flowers, a crown in the middle, and a heart in the middle of the crown.”

The Dalish girl’s beautiful green eyes opened wide with legitimate surprise. She looked over at Maxwell flirting with a multitude of her colleagues.

“If only they all knew…”  
Cullen grew bolder, laying a hand on her knee. “Knew what, my beauty?”

The Hostess reappeared, holding up her skirts as she skimmed down the brothel’s grand staircase, a rather agitated look on her face as she entered the salon.

“Inquisitor, I am sorry to be so – businesslike with you – but have you made your decision?”

Maxwell stood up, cracking his knuckles, shooting a smile at Cullen in the corner.

“I certainly have. You there – with the red hair and big tits. And you, my Rivani jewel with the dusky skin and blonde curls. Lastly – my favorite type - tawny skin, two pools of dark brown eyes, and just look at her arse, Cullen. She’s from Tevinter. Don’t tell Dorian! He’ll take it as encouragement he should continue to try tricking me into his bedroom.”

Cullen could only shake his head in wonder at Maxwell, with his arms around _three_ women. The Hostess clapped her hands, trying to move the show along.

“Alright, ladies, the rest of you, back to your rooms. That also means you, Mistress Lavellan. Commander Rutherford has been claimed for the night – by _Belle.”_

At the sound of this name, all the women grew silent and respectful, even the three currently being pawed by Lord Trevelyan. Cullen watched his Dalish girl stand up and join the other women, her eyes downcast in respect.

“Commander Rutherford, I bid you a good night. Do enjoy your stay at the Gilded Mask – and I hope you return.”

Cullen watched in disappointment as his elf left with the rest of the staff. The Hostess started to herd Maxwell away to his quarters, but the spoiled rich boy was already raising his objections.

“Wait a moment here, Madame. I need assurance my friend will be taken care of! Left to his own devices he will sit down here in the corner thinking about his dark past and how he will never make up for it all. I need to make sure someone – attends to his _cock_ tonight.”

The Hostess heaved a sigh, still trying to get him up the stairs to his own quarters.

“I swear to you, Lord Trevelyan, Commander Cullen will meet with _Belle de Jour_ tonight. And he will not leave before you do.”

She shooed Maxwell away up the stairs, aiming a slightly ominous sentence at both the Inquisitor and his Commander. “Nobody ever leaves Belle before midnight because _nobody ever wants to_.”  

Maxwell gave Cullen an impressed look before he turned to head up the stairs. “Don’t fuck it up, Rutherford. And I want details! I want a full report! In writing, and I mean it. I’ll expect it on my desk when we get back to Skyhold. Tawdy details and descriptions, diagrams, who put what in where, everything, Cullen. _Bon chance_!”

The Hostess waited until the Inquisitor and his ladies were out of sight and ensconced in their bed chambers before she addressed him again.

“Mademoiselle Belle will be down shortly. She takes great care in her toilette, you will not be disappointed. She simply prefers to meet her clients on her own, one on one.”

The older woman refilled his glass again, lowering her voice as she continued. “You must understand. Belle does not meet with just any customer off the street, even if they come with the Empress’s approval. You must pass her own inspection - but Ser, she seems rather pleased with you already. You must have been born under a lucky star.”

Cullen took a sip of his drink, his nervousness returning.

“I do not understand, Madame. What exactly are you trying to tell me?”

Cullen watched with some surprise as the older woman poured herself a shot of vodka and downed it before looking at him squarely. “Our _Belle du jour_ will transport you to a level of pleasure you did not know to be possible, Ser. Men leave her bedchambers believing in something else beyond this mortal world.”

Before Cullen could ask her another question, she continued. “Your friend calls himself the Herald of Andraste but Belle is truly – a conduit to another realm.”

The Hostess returned to her jovial, welcoming tone. “Now, Commander, please do not worry. Belle is simply preparing herself for you. You are in very. Capable. Hands.”


	2. The Beauty

Cullen paced in front of the staircase that lead to the second floor of the brothel. The Hostess was tending to business elsewhere, leaving him alone with this thoughts, which were restless and a little panicked.

 _He considered dashing out the front door, walking all the way back to their rented manor across town._  
  
_He hoped all this mystical talk about this woman’s skills was just Orlesian bluster and nothing more._  
  
_He wondered why he was nervous – he had earned her services, had he not?_  
  
Cullen paused for a moment. He knew why he was nervous – the last time he had been with a woman, he had been a different man, in a city far away, in a much less lavish whorehouse. He turned and looked at the main doors leading out to the street and took a deep breath, deciding he could put up with a lifetime of Maxwell’s censure. Cullen took one step forward, about to flee –

“You are leaving already, Monsieur?”

Cullen turned around and looked up at the woman at the top of the staircase. An incandescence seemed to shine forth from her body, emanating off her light mocha-colored skin. Long silky locks of midnight black hair cascaded down her back, coming down to the small of her back. She was clad in a diaphanous golden robe, and as she took each step down the staircase closer to him, he could see the outlines of her naked body right through the gossamer garment. She smiled at him, and Cullen swore he heard delicate chimes and the tinkling of bells.

 He had to blink a few times to even believe what he was seeing was real – this woman was literally sparkling, prisms of light bounced everywhere as she approached him.

Cullen quickly removed his gloves, dropping them on the ground, not caring where they landed or if he’d remember to retrieve them later. He held a hand out to the beauty, guiding her down the last two steps. His gesture of chivalry made her smile again and Cullen felt the tense spots in his body loosen ever so slightly. She stood in front of him now and he could see that her eyes were dark brown, and flecked with gold – just like his. 

“You did not answer me, Ser. Did you wish to leave?”

He bent over her hand, brushing her knuckles with his lips – and Cullen found himself having to stifle a small moan. Her skin smelled sweet, and he wanted more of it. He wanted to see more, touch more, taste her – he wanted to _lick her_. _Maker’s breath, man. How long has she even been standing in front of you? Say something you fool!_

“I was not leaving, only worried you had forgotten about me, milady.”

She glanced down at the hand Cullen was still holding, a blush coming to her cheeks. Cullen let go of her hand, feeling shy. He gave her a small bow. “Commander Rutherford, at your service. Wh-what may I call you?”

“You may call me Belle.” Cullen looked at her and saw she was still blushing, and not meeting his gaze. He felt a flicker of something funny in his stomach. Why would she be nervous as well? Shouldn’t she –

“Forgive me, Commander. It is has been a long time since I have had – a customer. The Empress does not give out those coins very often – and usually not to big, handsome Fereldan farm boys.”

She finally met his eyes and Cullen felt his knees wobble. This woman looked like she stepped down out of an oil painting, a goddess fallen from the heavens.

“How did you know I was, ah, a ‘Fereldan farm boy’, my lady? Did the Empress tell you that? I’m not even sure how she could have known.”

Belle took his hand again, a small smile curling at the corners of her full, seductive lips. Cullen felt a relaxing warmth flowing through her fingers into his body.

“When I touch you – I know you, Ser. I also know you are nervous – and a little hungry. You and Maxwell came straight over here after the pub without stopping.”

Cullen’s stomach rumbled as though his body was responding to her. He rubbed the back of his neck, flustered.

“Don’t be embarrassed, Commander. Let us retire to my quarters. I hear you will be here until midnight.”

She turned, gesturing to him to follow. “How about dinner, a little wine – followed by a nice hot bath and a long massage?”

Cullen walked behind her, in a bewitched daze, staring at her arse through the see-through gown. A long list of what he’d like to do to those to those two globes of perfect flesh rolled through his imagination as they approached the ornate double doors to her bedchambers. She turned to face him again. Cullen felt his cock twinge at the closer sight of her nipples under her robe.

“I’m sure we’ll find some way to fill up the rest of the time, don’t you think, Commander?”  
Cullen steeled himself to not shred the flimsy garment right off her body.

“Please, Belle. Call me Cullen. I insist upon it.”  
“As you wish - Cullen.”

She turned back toward the doors and they swung open in front of her without her touching them.

Cullen stepped into her chambers and could not believe what he observed. It did not seem a room this big could even exist in the villa he had seen from street level. A lavish dinner was already set on a mahogany table for two, with a bottle of champagne chilling on ice nearby. Through an arched doorway on his left he could see a pool big enough to swim in – and through the other arch across the way, a bed wide enough for six. He also noticed the personal details, like a small alchemy table tucked away in a corner near some bookcases overflowing with old tomes. A comfy velvet armchair sat next to a window. He imagined her reading there, her feet tucked under her, toying with a piece of her hair as she turned the pages of her book. He refocused on that window again – maybe it had been _her_ peeking down at him in the street earlier. Had she truly chosen him, found him desirable?

He turned to look at her. She gestured at a small bench near the double doors.

“Please sit, Ser. Let me help you with that armor.”

One of his hands instinctively darted to the clasp on one of his pauldrons. “My lady, I wouldn’t dare make you do such a thing, let me – “

Belle swept behind him, pushing that arm down. She leaned down and spoke into his ear, giving him gooseflesh. “Nonsense. You will sit there and relax. That’s an order, soldier.”

Cullen expected her to stand up and get back to work but instead her lips lingered near his ear. She pressed her lips to his neck, making them both sigh.

She then turned her attention back to his armor, unbuckling and unfastening all the heavy pieces covering him. He insisted on helping her with the breast plate, which he set down at the foot of the bench.

“There, doesn’t that feel better? Boots next, please. And then your tunic, and your pants. You may leave everything here for now.”

She walked away and disappeared into her boudoir. Cullen kicked off his boots but stopped before completely undressing. Belle came back with a dark blue velvet dressing robe draped over one arm.

“Ser. You did not follow directions.”

Cullen was beginning to – get into the spirit of things. “I figured it would be more, fun, if you helped me again. I’m so utterly hopeless aren’t I.”

He gave her a lopsided smirk, and Belle grinned back at him coyly. She hooked the robe onto a coat rack near the door for a moment before coming back to stand before him. She kept her eyes glued to his as she reached for the bottom hem of his tunic, sliding it up. She felt the hard, lean muscle under his shirt and he watched as Belle’s eyes left his to look at the bit of skin she had exposed. He felt her smooth hands travel up his rippled abs and onto his pecs, her fingertips teasing his nipples as they explored. Belle stopped for a moment, grabbing his tunic near the shoulders and pulling it off of him. Cullen felt full of pride when her eyes feasted upon his body.

“The rest of it is next, Ser.”

She stood closer to him, still staring at his body, while her hands undid his belt. She hooked her fingers into his waistband, also gathering his smalls. She pulled both garments down until he could step out of both of them, and then ghosted her hands over his legs and up his thighs as she stood up. She made eye contact with him again – before stealing a glance at his cock. He’d been half-hard ever since he laid eyes on her. He wondered if she would say anything –

“You are impressive, from top to bottom, Commander. I can honestly say I look forward to serving your every need tonight.” Belle’s delicate fingers traced some of the scars of his old battle wounds that criss-crossed his chest. One hand landed on one of his bigger scars on his side, where a knife had once slipped between a gap in his armor. “This man meant to kill you, didn’t he?”

Cullen nodded at her, and then gasped when her other hand danced down his body to land on his cock, wrapping her fingers around it, measuring the width and heft of him in her palm. “I’m glad he didn’t.”

Cullen could no longer restrain himself. His hands cupped her face, tilting her lips toward him. He dove in for a kiss, parting her lips and twining his tongue with hers. He was running on pure instinct now, determined to not be nervous, determined to enjoy her. His hands slid under her robe and pushed it off her shoulders, where it pooled on the floor around her feet. She moaned as he scooped her closer, his hands now firmly planted on her soft arse, his lips pressed against her neck where he could breathe in her perfume and the scent of her hair.

“Cullen…as much as I like this – you are ruining my plans for the night.”  
“Which were?”  
“You have forgotten already? Dinner, wine, bath, massage – and –“

Cullen lifted her easily off the ground and started heading for her bedroom.

“Cullen!”  
“I cannot wait, milady. If I try I would only make a fool of myself in your foyer.”

He laid her down on the giant canopied bed, his cock now hard and pointing right at her. Belle seemed to sparkle again, in the candlelight.

“Your Hostess told me you would take me to another realm.”  
She only smiled at him shyly.  
“Well, where do I start?”  
“Where do you think?”

Belle parted her thighs before him and Cullen saw was already glistening with arousal. He laid on the bed between her legs and pressed his mouth to her folds. She gushed – and she tasted like honey. He opened her up with his fingers and lapped at her – and he felt her moans all over his body, swirling through his veins. He licked her clit, making her wetter and wetter, and not quite realizing he was getting high on her cunt. He pushed his face in deeper as his vision went fuzzy around the edges, until the only thing he could see clearly was her body spread out on the bed before him.

“ _Belle…”_  
“It’s alright, Cullen. Don’t be scared.”  
He crawled up her body to draw one of her taut brown nipples into his mouth – this one tasting like brown sugar, the other one tasting like cinnamon. He swiped his tongue up her neck – vanilla now. He kissed her deeply, tasting her mouth - summer fruits, she was better than a peach plucked from a tree.

Somewhere on the edge of his consciousness he felt Belle grasping his cock and guiding her into her pussy. His head fell forward next to hers, pressed into the sheets beneath them.

“Cullen, are you still with me?”  
“Did you _bewitch_ me, woman?” He felt himself sliding into her until he was hilt-deep.  
“I can, if you want me to. Who do you want me to be tonight, Cullen?”

Cullen pushed himself up to kneeling, still deep inside of her. He had to blink his eyes a few times. They were no longer in the Gilded Mask, but in a field along a quiet edge of Lake Calenhad. Cullen looked over his shoulder and could see the Circle Tower off in the distance across the water. He looked down and there was Emma, the mage lass he had lost his virginity to, lying on his Templar cape in the tall grass. Her green eyes bore into his and every freckle on her youthful face was exactly where he remembered it.

“Emma?”  
“Oh Cullen, more please.”

He rutted into her, lost in the fantasy, feeling 18 all over again, gripping her pale ivory thighs. He reached down to rub her clit, making the girl blush and groan louder. He held her legs wide open so he could see his cock sliding in and out of her. He had pleasured himself to this very memory and it was more vivid than the day it had actually happened. Cullen remembered what was coming next – he bent forward, pressing her knees back against her chest and fucking her hard, making her cry out as her orgasm surged through her.

Cullen felt his vision go fuzzy again and when he refocused, he was back in the Gilded Mask, Belle beneath him, sweat on her brow and her face flushed.

“What a lucky girl. It makes me ask, do you have a thing for mages, Commander?”

He was still deep in Belle’s pussy. He pulled out of her, making her “tsk” at him in disappointment. Cullen sat there, trying to regain his bearings, feeling disoriented.

“You must give me a moment. That was like – being there.”

Belle pushed him down with a hungry little growl, straddling him and sinking onto his cock again before he could protest or talk back. “You may have been _with her_ but _I’m the one_ who felt the pleasure – and I need more. So what else do you want, Cullen? Who else do you think about?”

She leaned forward to kiss him and once again, Cullen felt the world around them shimmer and disappear. When she pulled back from the kiss – he was legitimately surprised to find himself in the war room back in Skyhold.

Or more specifically, on the floor in the war room – with his friend Cassandra mounted on top of him. His own fantasy sent a ripple of shock through his being.

“What’s wrong, Cullen?” – It was Belle speaking through Cassandra.  
“No no no, it’s wrong, I know I shouldn’t, we shouldn’t -”  
“Oh, but she’s attractive, I don’t blame you. Strong, loyal, fierce – sexy.”

The enchanted Cassandra bounced on his cock, making Cullen moan. He couldn’t help himself any longer, he reached for her ample breasts, squeezing them – he’d be lying if he said he hadn’t ever thought of any of this. Cassandra leaned forward, letting him suck on one nipple, and then the other, all while she moved her hips in a circle, grinding on his staff.

“Cullen, fuck me. Fuck me against the war table.”

They got to their feet quickly, and he had her pressed forward against the map of Thedas. He entered her from behind and rocked in and out of her in a steady rhythm. He pushed Cassandra's head against the table, delighting when she fought back a little, until he had to grab one of her arms and pin it back behind her so she couldn’t move.

“Yes, Cullen, be rough with me, I can take it.” Her rich Nevarran accent made Cullen roll his eyes back in his head.

_Yes, he had wanted this, he would take it now while he can._

He pushed her down hard, rutting in and out of her, filled the air with the sound of his skin slapping against hers. “Maker, give it to me, Cullen!” He was slamming into her so hard it was making the heavy table creak and move under their momentum. He reached around and felt for her womanhood, pressing his fingers there, working at her clit, until he felt her clench around him, screaming out in pleasure.

Cullen’s vision went white – and when he came back to the world, he realized he was on his feet, behind Belle and still inside of her. She was pressed forward against the bed in the same manner he had just taken Cassandra, one arm pinned behind her back and held in place by only one of Cullen’s strong hands. He let her go, pulling out of her and turning her around.

“Did I hurt you, Belle?” His face was so etched with concern it made her smile and touch his cheek gently.  
“No, you sweet man, I am fine. But I am still – not finished with you yet. Don’t you want to see the grand finale?”

Cullen quickly scanned his own memories, knowing all that was left were some sad, unsatisfying encounters at the whorehouse in Kirkwall. He didn’t want to relive any of that.

“I do – but…what if I just wanted to be with you, Belle? Would that be alright?”

She swallowed, looking at him with disbelief. “With – just me? I don’t understand. Nobody ever says that. You realize you can be with anyone – all you have to do is think of her and I can be her.”

His calloused hands brushed over her body, giving her gooseflesh. He kneaded her breasts, his erection still pressed between them.

“I’m thinking of her right now – specifically, why she won’t get up on the accursed bed and spread her legs for me.”

Belle threw her arms around his neck, plunging her tongue into his mouth, making him feel intoxicated again. He reached under her arse, picking her up and putting her back on the bed. He got down on his knees between her thighs, pleasuring her with his tongue again, savoring her honey taste. Her arousal dripped down his chin and he could _feel_ the sound of her panting and swearing in Orlesian all the way down in his balls.

Cullen could take no more, his cock was now painfully hard, having brought two other women to their climaxes already. He got up on the bed next to her, turning her onto her side and entering her from behind, pushing his staff into her as deep as he could.

“That’s it, Cullen, _c'est parfait –_ make me come.” She lifted an arm and held on to the back of his neck as his hips pumped against hers faster and faster. Cullen felt like he was chasing a distant pinpoint of light and it was growing closer and closer to him every time he made her moan. He reached around and felt for her pearl, swollen and sensitive, and rolled it under his fingertips. She bucked in his arms, exploding under his touch – and the light washed over him as he shot his seed into her at the same time.

He collapsed onto the bed next to her, breathing hard – fractals of color and light dancing in his vision, the walls of her room wobbling and twisting. Belle was whispering something into his ear, but he could not hear her, he was on another plane of existence – looking down at himself and Belle on the bed, the sheets twisted up beneath them. He watched her stroke his cock – he was still coming, waves of pleasure contorting his face. From above, he watched Belle licking up his seed, sucking his cock all over - making the Cullen on the bed swear and squint his eyes closed. When she was done, and he his staff finally grew soft again, he felt his consciousness slam back into his body with a gasp.

He felt beyond exhausted. He wanted to lift a hand to touch her cheek but he found he could not control his body.

“Shhhh, just rest now. It is normal, the way you feel – and it is not permanent.”

Cullen opened his mouth but couldn’t speak. He looked at her helplessly, wanting to touch her. She read his mind, curling up close to him, stroking his chest. He licked his lips a few times and swallowed, trying to regain his voice.

“I do not want to sleep, my lady. It would be a sin to waste the precious time I have been given with you.”  
She combed her fingers through his hair. “It is only eight bells, Commander.”

The brokenhearted look he gave her made her inhale in surprise. “ _Eight bells. Only four more hours. Then you will send me away_.”

Her magic fingertips caressed his strong jaw line, giving him a shiver of pleasure. “I promise I will not let you sleep long, but close your eyes for now.”

She laid there next to him, feeling a wave of emotion welling up inside of her. Belle was used to sending men to an oblivion of ecstasy, but they never wanted simple intimacy with her. Her lovers usually came back from that other realm with rougher, base demands, greedy and selfish, wanting more.

They did not usually return with sweet words on their lips.

Belle closed her eyes too, seeking to draw inspiration from the Fade. She was determined to do nothing but _please_ this good soldier for the next four hours of his life.


	3. The Dessert

Cullen awoke feeling refreshed, with more energy than he had felt in a long time. Through the doorway of her bedroom, he could see Belle fussing with items on the dinner table, wearing a simple black silk negligee. He sat up and saw she had left him the dark blue velvet robe folded up at the end of the bed, the one he didn't bother with when they met and his desires took over. He slipped it on and joined her.

Belle blushed when he entered the room, in that way he had come to find very flattering. A woman of her beauty and powers, feeling shy around _him?_ Either she was a very good actress or – she maybe she actually liked him. He put the thought aside for now.

“You promised me you would wake me up, Belle. Did I sleep for long?”  
“No Commander, it is barely half past eight bells. Usually after a tumble with me, men are asleep for hours. It must be your old Templar training. Champagne?”

She headed for the bottle on ice in the silver bucket near the dinner table, but Cullen beat her to it. “Allow me. Let me serve _you._ ”

Belle sat down while he popped the cork off and poured them two glasses. He clinked his against hers. “To whatever you might have planned for the rest of the night.”

There was a heat in her eyes that he felt right in his loins. “Oh trust me, Ser. The fireworks were just act one. The _acrobatics_ come next. But do sit down and eat something. You must be famished.”

Cullen wanted to push everything off the dinner table and take her right there but the food looked too tempting, and not too Orlesian. He helped himself to the roast pheasant with potatoes and gravy while she watched him with a content look on her face. Cullen found himself wanting to get to know the enigma of the stunning woman sitting next to him.

“So... You are a mage?”  
  
Belle laughed at him but it made him feel good. “Did you really need to ask? I knew your past, your secret fantasies.”  
  
“It’s just that - I’ve known no mage like you before, milady.” She refilled his wine glass while squeezing his knee under the table.  
  
“They didn’t know what to do with me at the Circle. As soon as I was 14 and beginning to blossom, I discovered men did not act normally around me anymore. And it was not just because I have a nice pair of tits.” Cullen nearly choked on his food. He had to take a sip of wine to clear his throat. She kept her hand on his knee while he ate and he felt warm swirls of comfort coming from her fingertips.

“When they caught me with - more than one of your brothers – they cast me out and chose to tell my family I ran away and I was an incurable apostate. I travelled to Tevinter, where I met the only other – sex mage – I have ever met. She taught me how to manipulate the Fade although I can only do so in the throes of passion with a lover. I can’t, you know, get a better price on carrots at the market with my powers. The vegetable monger is quite loyal to his wife if you can believe it.”

Cullen swallowed his food and looked at her for a moment. “Are you joking? Did you really try to seduce the man who sells you your produce?”

She slapped his arm with a hand and snorted in an unladylike manner. “Yes, I’m joking! You’re a very literal man, Cullen Rutherford.”

The two smiled at each other as Cullen put a hand over hers on his knee. He felt so at ease in her company and it immediately made him feel melancholy about his inevitable departure from her quarters. Belle studied the look on his face and slid over to sit on his lap, throwing an arm around him, kissing him on the neck. Cullen saw flecks of light shimmer around the two of them. He wiped his hands on his napkin and pulled her closer, making them glow even brighter.

She murmured against his ear. “Cullen... You have so much hurt inside you, I can feel it every time you want to relax. You don’t think you deserve to feel good – but you do, Cullen. You are a good man – with a kind heart. You love your friends – it’s why you came here tonight, to make a friend happy.”

Cullen shivered in her embrace. Everything this woman said or did to him made him feel so alive. What she said next made him hiss with arousal, especially when she felt for his manhood through his robe. “Well, Commander. I am here to tell you you _do_ deserve to feel good and be happy.”

Cullen put hand on the back of her head and kissed her, marveling that she tasted even better than the champagne. He did not even notice her reach for a golden bell on the table, ringing it quickly.

He pulled away from the kiss, brushing a thumb over her bottom lip, which he decided he was now obsessed with. “What was that for?”

“Dessert – is served.”

The double doors opened – and Cullen’s jaw dropped in surprise. It was his elf girl, the one he would have chosen earlier had he not possessed the Empress’s coin. She was wearing a chiffon, moss-green robe with nothing underneath, and she was pushing a fancy cart in front of her with only two things on it – a bowl of whipped cream, and a bowl of ripe, red strawberries. Cullen’s eyes were glued to her small, pert pink nipples under her robe – and the patch of copper-colored hair between her legs. She wheeled the cart up to them with a cheeky smile.

“Cullen, this is Liawynn. I believe you have met already?” The elf girl gave Belle a deferential bow of her head.   
  
“Belle – I am truly honored to be chosen to join you tonight. And Commander – I am definitely pleased to see you again.”

Belle stood up and approached her. Liawynn took Belle’s hand and pressed a kiss to the palm of her hand, fervent and almost religious. Belle tucked a finger under her chin and leaned forward to kiss her, soft and gentle, making the girl moan. Cullen felt that kiss on his own lips, and his cock twinge under his robe. He remembered Belle’s words – “the acrobatics” were about to begin. He poured himself more champagne, staring at the two women still kissing before him.

Belle backed away, her hands sweeping up and down Liawynn’s ivory arms, her brown skin looking so beautiful next to hers.

“So, dessert first. And then we shall decide – “  
  
Belle turned to look at him now, her arms still around the elf. “Do you want her first? Or shall I have her – and you watch? Or – do you want to share her at the same time? She is – incredibly sweet, all over.” Belle cupped Liawynn’s breasts through the sheer fabric.

_Cullen felt like he was about to liquefy and melt onto the floor._

Liawynn piped up with her opinion, in her sweet Dalish accent – “I was hoping you would both want me tonight.”

Cullen muttered to himself, “Maker’s breath,” and sent a prayer to Andraste – which he took back immediately. He wasn’t sure Andraste would like what they were up to.  
  
He cleared his throat and answered. “Dessert first, as you said, Belle. And to begin - I shall watch you. At first.”

Belle smiled at him, clearing off a spot on the dining table right before him. She sat down, crooking a finger at Liawynn. The elf brought the bowls of whipped cream and strawberries over, putting them on the table beside Belle. Liawynn let her robe drop at her feet and slipped Belle’s little black dress off her body, casting it aside as well.

Liawynn dipped a strawberry into the cream, pressing it to Belle’s lips. Belle nibbled on it with an indulgent smile while the elf scooped another finger into the whipped cream, putting a dollop on each of Belle’s tight nipples. Liawynn sucked on one, and then the other while Belle finished off her treat. She repeated this again and again, licking and sucking at Belle's buds, until they were almost out of dessert. 

Belle was no longer looking at Cullen, she was focused on Liawynn now, as the girl sat down on Cullen’s lap, right against his growing erection, before opening Belle’s legs wide. She looked up at the mage, saying something delicious in Dalish.

“What did she say, Belle?” Cullen asked in a hoarse, aroused voice.  
“She said - my pussy is her favorite dessert.”

Without further delay, Liawynn picked up a strawberry, dipped it in the cream and rubbed the tip of it against Belle’s clit. Belle moaned, throwing her head back. The girl danced the fruit around the folds of Belle’s wet pussy, before bringing it to her lips to bite into it. Liawynn fell back against Cullen’s chest in ecstasy, uttering more beautiful Dalish words as she savored the fruit in her mouth.

“Use the common tongue, my dear, so our Templar can understand you.”  
  
“Use the common tongue? As you wish, milady.” Liawynn turned slightly to push the rest of the strawberry into Cullen’s mouth, before leaning forward to press her lips to Belle’s swollen pearl, licking up the cream she had left there.

Cullen massaged Liawynn’s pale little arse while she ate Belle’s pussy with gusto, sometimes putting a hand on the back of her head to guide her movements a little. He slipped a hand between Liawynn’s legs to feel for her clit there, massaging it so the women moaned in tandem. Cullen was feeling that dizzy, high sensation again, coming into contact with Belle’s potent sex magic. And he was also feeling a little demanding.

“It’s your turn Liawynn. On the table, right now, that’s an order.”

Belle hopped off the table, entwined in Liawynn’s arms for a moment, the two women kissing each other hungrily. Cullen ran his hands over whoever he could reach out and touch, the two of them were softer than the finest velvets or silks. They switched places, with Belle on his lap and Liawynn with her legs spread on the table. Belle did not bother with the cream, the elf was dripping wet already. Belle leaned forward and flicked the tip of her tongue against elf’s pink pearl, making the girl twitch with delight. Cullen sat back and watched, still incredulous he was witness to this display of utter sensuality. Belle's tongue was making Liawynn pant faster and faster now, and she slid two fingers into the girl's pussy, pushing them in and out. Belle got off of Cullen's lap but stood before him, her legs slightly spread. She stopped pleasuring Liawynn with her tongue for a moment, looking over her shoulder at him. "Are you just going to sit there and watch, Ser?"

Cullen stood up so quickly the chair nearly tipped over underneath him. He shed his robe, fisting his cock for a moment. Liawynn's face registered a little shock.

"Belle, he is so - big."  
"I know, and I want you to take all of him before we are through."  
The elf girl shook her head in disbelief. "There is no way I can fit  _that_ in me."

Belle leaned down, swiping her tongue right across the girl's clit, making her groan. "You can, _vhenan_. I will show you first."

Belle tilted her hips up at Cullen, so he could see her hot womanhood, open and waiting for him. He entered her, slow and torturous, making Belle's eyes roll back in her head. Liawynn leaned forward to kiss her, sweeping her hands over her ample breasts, until Cullen was so deep within her he felt balls pressed against Belle.

Cullen had to swallow and  _not_ concentrate on the dirty talk the women were exchanging. 

"Is he hard?"  
"He is so hard, and thick too..."  
"Does it feel good -"  
"Oh, he will make you feel good too."  
  
Belle leaned forward, getting back to work on the elf's pussy as Cullen began to rut in and out of Belle. Her sheath was incredibly hot, and he could feel rivers of her energy flowing into his entire body. He slapped her arse, making Belle squeal and Liawynn give him an encouraging smile.

Cullen felt like a king, with these two beautiful woman putting on a show for him. He gestured at the elf to refill his glass so he could have a drink while he was having the best sex of his life. He downed the champagne in one gulp, put his glass back down on the table, and began to thrust into Belle harder, one hand holding on to her shoulder. Belle began to pant now too, each snap of his hips making her cry louder until she could not concentrate on Liawynn's cunt. The elf girl hopped off the table instead, standing before her to kiss her and palm her breasts.

"I'm going to come, keep going, Cullen, please!" She threaded her fingers through Liawynn's hair, pushing the girl's mouth down to one of her nipples. Cullen pumped in and out of her, the room growing blurry around them, until he felt Belle's pussy clench down around him. Belle moaned in Orlesian, throwing her head back - and filling the room around them with a thousand prisms of light. Liawynn looked around, holding a hand out in wonder as one of the little magic twinkles landed right on her palm, before it dissolved and disappeared.

Cullen pulled out of Belle, still stiff, now painfully so. Belle stood up and turned around, her cheeks flushed, to throw her arms around Cullen's neck and dart her tongue into his mouth. She pressed her forehead to his as she whispered to him: "Bedroom. Now." Cullen kissed her back once more - before picking her up and throwing her over his left shoulder. With an easy scoop of his right arm, he had the elf girl over his other shoulder, making them both laugh. He carried the two giggling women into the bedroom, dropping them onto the huge bed and kneeling between them. The two women stroked his cock together as his rough hands swept over their bodies. Cullen leaned down to suck each of their sensitive nipples into his mouth, one by one, first Belle's and then Liawynn's.

Belle sat up for a moment, kissing Cullen deeply again, before closing her eyes and reaching her arms out. Liawynn and Cullen watched her casting a spell, blue light swirling from her palms - and then her lovers gasped as the walls of her bedroom turned into a mosaic of ornate mirrors, tilting perfectly to reflect their bodies everywhere. 

"There, my loves. Now we can really see each other - and everything we do to each other."

Cullen looked around him at the multitude of Liawynns and Belles around him and knew he wanted to see something in particular. He had wanted it since the moment the elf had arrived in Belle's quarters.

"Pleasure each other, at the same time. I want mouths on cunts, right away, my little recruits."

Belle spread out against the soft sheets, beckoning the girl to her. Liawynn pressed her pussy to Belle's face before diving between the mage's thighs. Cullen sat back on his heels, taking it all in - watching as Belle's mirrors tilted perfectly so he could see every angle of their lovemaking.  He ran a hand down Liawynn's back, listening to the soft, sticky sounds each of them was coaxing into the air.

Cullen moaned, swearing to himself, which made Belle tap Liawynn on the hip, prompting the girl to roll off of her. Belle then gave Liawynn an authoritative look that the girl understood. Belle made Cullen lie down before the two women crawled over to his cock and began licking him all over - one sucking the head while the other lavished attention on his shaft, or drawing his sensitive balls into her mouth, until Cullen was lost in a haze of pleasure. Liawynn had a mouthful of Cullen when Belle stopped, whispering something in the girl's ear. The elf removed her mouth from his staff and shook her head, but Belle only nodded playfully, giving her an encouraging kiss.

Cullen watched, feeling less and less in control of the situation, as Belle helped Liawynn get into position over his staff, facing away from him but facing toward her. Liawynn lowered herself onto his cock a few inches, whining and writhing while Belle massaged and sucked her nipples, murmuring to her in in her native tongue. 

"She is complaining your cock is too big, Cullen."  
He chuckled to himself in disbelief, watching them in one of the myriad mirrors, feeling Belle's hand gripping the bottom half of his shaft not inside the elf yet. 

Liawynn held on to Belle's shoulders, leaning against her. "Belle, please, I can't." Belle kissed her deeply and Cullen felt the walls of her pussy relax. Cullen looked up at Belle, his eyes unfocused, trying to tell her to keep pleasuring the girl but he could not find the words. Belle had heard his thoughts through her senses though.

Cullen watched in complete abandon in one of the magic mirrors as Belle got down onto her hands and knees to dance her tongue over the elven girl's over-stimulated pearl as she stayed impaled on his staff. Liawynn cried out as Cullen pushed his hips up, filling her tight pussy while Belle kept lapping at the girl's clit, sometimes running her velvet tongue over his balls. The air was full of their hisses and groans as Liawynn began to bounce on him harder, grinding down on his cock with more insistence.

Cullen felt the elven girl's pussy gush in response, her hips moving faster and faster now. Belle switched from her mouth to her fingers, rubbing at Liawynn's pearl, looking into the Liawynn's eyes. "Let go, _vhenan_. Surrender to me." Belle kissed the Dalish beauty, her hand still vibrating against her until Cullen felt her cunt pulsing around him. In the mirrors he saw Liawynn's face, lost in the sensations of Belle's powerful magic. He knew she was not in her body anymore, the real Liawynn was floating somewhere in the room, watching herself still grinding on his cock, her mouth pressed to Belle's in lust-driven hunger. The girl's hips slowed until she sighed in release. 

Belle helped a very weak Liawynn dismount from Cullen's cock, gently placing her on the bed by his side, and crawling over her, the two still exchanging sweet kisses and caresses. She looked at Cullen. "Please, Cullen, my turn again, now."

He scrambled behind Belle quickly, sliding into her in one persistent thrust. Belle dipped a nipple into Liawynn's mouth, making her suck on it before switching to the other one. Cullen reached underneath her and pressed three fingers against Belle's womanhood, shaking them vigorously, feeling Belle's skin heat up against his.

 "That's it, my love. Keep going!"

Cullen pulled Belle up with a strong arm, pressing her back to his chest, still stimulating her with his hand, almost roughly now. He felt her magic drawing closer to them both, her pussy beginning to tighten around him, but she was still hovering near the edge and he didn't know how to push her over. Cullen simply pressed his lips to her ear, and uttered a few words of Orlesian, out of the forty or so he knew:

" _Je t'aime,_ Belle _. Je t'aime_."

He felt one of her elegant hands reach back to hold on to his neck and then he bit down on her shoulder like an animal. The pain met the pleasure and Belle arched her back, climaxing in his arms. A light washed over him, blinding him entirely as he shot his seed inside of her. 

Cullen blinked his eyes a few times. He was back in Skyhold - on the battlements near his quarters. It was a beautiful, clear, crisp mountain day, and he was in his armor, his sword at his side, like it was an ordinary day. He looked to his left and saw Belle sitting there on the ledge, in simple clothing, cotton skirts and blouse, with a little forest green vest. She looked quite at home as she peeled an apple with a knife, smiling at him.

"Is this where you live, Cullen?"  
"It is."  
"It's beautiful here. I know you are happy in this place. You find your work very fulfilling. It is why you wanted me to see it."

He reached out to cup her face with one of his hands but the magic was already beginning to fade, the bedroom around them coming back into focus. Cullen was still caressing her face when he asked, "Does every man who sleeps with you fall in love with you, Belle?"

Liawynn stretched and cuddled closer to him on his left. "They do, Ser. We have had to push them out onto the streets, fighting the entire way."  
  
Belle made a sound at the girl, bidding her to be quiet as she nestled into Cullen's other side. "Do not let it trouble you, Cullen. Rest again. I will wake you again before midnight, I promise."

Cullen laid there for a moment, cradling both women to him. He pressed his lips to Belle's forehead. He knew their parting in a few hours would wound him, and not her. He was just another body in her bed she had to please. But he had felt some kind of sublime connection with her in those few stolen moments that had nothing to do with carnal desire.

He knew would never be the same again. 

 


	4. The Farewell

Cullen squinted at the reports in his hand. The afternoon sun was pouring into his office at Skyhold at an angle that made it hard for him to sit behind his desk and read, the light shining right into his eyes - but this wasn't the only reason he was having trouble concentrating. A delicious warmth was creeping all over his body, starting from his toes and working its way up. The papers in his hand fluttered to his desk as his head rolled back and a groan escaped his lips. What in the Void was happening to him? If a messenger came in right now and heard the noises he was making...

He pushed his chair back from the desk with a huff, sweat now beading on his brow. He looked down at himself and almost jumped right out of his armor. Belle was on her knees under the desk, her head bobbing in his lap as she sucked his cock.

"Belle! What are you doing here?"  
  
She gave him a big swipe of her tongue, from base to head before smiling at him in a relaxed fashion as if it were utterly normal for her to be under his desk, stark naked, and pleasuring him.

"I'm not here, my love.  _We're_ not here right now."

Belle dipped her head to lick his staff all over, as though he were a piece of candy. Cullen was having trouble putting everything together, he just wanted to enjoy the heat of her mouth. He took a glove off and wove his fingers into her ebony locks, pushing on her head as gently as possible. He swallowed, trying to control himself.

"What do you mean? Belle, stop for a moment..."

She slid her hands up his thighs, looking up at him in adoration. "Open your eyes, my lion. You're dreaming."

Cullen inhaled sharply and Skyhold disappeared around them. He blinked his eyes a few times and found himself lying on Belle's bed, and she was still there, still sucking his cock with great vigor. Cullen let his head fall back on the pillow with a content sigh.

"Is this how you wake people up in Orlais?"  
  
"Yes, it's called a _Val Royeaux Hello_ , you hadn't heard? And how do you say hello in Fereldan? With a boring old handshake and a scowl?"  
  
She gave him a smug grin before sucking the head of his cock a little more with a slurp-y, satisfied noise. He sat up and began moving toward her on the bed, until her body was covered with his and his tongue was exploring her mouth. He nibbled at her bottom lip before finally responding. "You make me want to never go back to Fereldan ever again, my Belle."

Belle ran a hand through his hair, a little anguish in her eyes. "Midnight draws near, Commander. We are running out of time." He clenched his jaw in frustration and disappointment, but she touched the scar at the corner of his mouth with a soft finger tip, running it across the arc of his upper lip. "Do not despair, mon amour. We have time for another round."

He lowered a head to draw one of her nipples into his mouth, feeling ready for whatever she had planned for him. He looked up at her, a crooked smirk on his face. "If if it's even half as good as dessert was, I promise I shall be pleased."

She gave him a little shove, rolling her eyes. "Do you wish for me to call for Liawynn again? I'm sure she would like that."  
  
Cullen smile grew bigger. "My goodness, the most ravishing courtesan in all of Orlais sounds  _jealous_ of a little 5 foot tall Dalish girl."

Belle shoved him harder now, pouting with petulance. "I am not jealous. I am a businesswoman. If you wish for her to join us again - or for me to leave - the customer's wish reigns supreme here." She began to squirm under him, trying to get out from under the weight of him.

"Ah, I have hurt your feelings, I'm sorry, Belle! I did not think it possible for you to be prettier, but you wear your envy well. No, I wish to only be with you."

Her sweet smile reappeared on her face, and Cullen felt like a teenager in love. She put her hands on his shoulders and began to push him down, parting her thighs. Cullen slid down her body, leaving kisses from her collarbones to her hipbone. He opened her folds with his thumbs and groaned. 

"You really have the most beautiful pussy I've ever seen in my life. It is as lovely as a flower -"

Belle giggled into the back of her hand. "Oh Cullen, you're not much of a poet."

He ignored her. "It is as lovely as a flower and I just want to..."

Cullen lowered his head and  _inhaled_ the smell of her.

It made Belle gasp, especially as he sucked her pearl into his mouth, kissing her there like it was her mouth, his tongue diving and swirling. She wrapped her legs around him, hooking her feet and resting them on his back, pulling him in closer. Belle touched her nipples while she gazed down at his head between her legs, also feasting her eyes on the sight of his perfect arse moving up and down as he rubbed his erection against her soft satin sheets. Her magic began to spread throughout the room, but Cullen paused in his work, looking up at her. 

"You don't have to do that now, Belle. You needn't - put on a display for me right now. Just - be a woman. Be my woman - and I am your man."

Belle's lip quivered a little before she responded. "Alright, Cullen. No magic, just - the way we make each other feel. So make me wet Cullen, eat my pussy..."

He switched techniques, flicking at her clit side to side with a stiff tongue. She gushed into his mouth as she pinched her nipples, tweaking the tips. "Fingers now, Cullen, but don't stop  _licking_."

Cullen slid two fingers into her as far as he could, delighting as her sheath squeezed at them in response as he continued tonguing at her swollen clit. She was groaning and writhing now and he didn't think he could last longer. Even without illusions and the full force of her magic arsenal, the sight of her luminous brown skin against her white sheets was enough to enchant him. He made a move toward her on the bed, his cock painfully ready for her.

"Please, Belle, I must..."

Before he could make a move toward her, she rolled over playfully, grabbing a plush pillow and lying down on it for support. Cullen began to guide himself into her pussy but she stopped him, reaching through her legs and grasping his cock.

"Cullen, I think you've earned this."

Belle began to guide him toward her  _other entrance_. Cullen stammered out a few words, "Belle, I've never - I -"  
  
"Shhhh. If you're going to talk, say dirty things to me, my love."

Cullen wanted to say any number of depraved things to her but he was rendered speechless, as he often was in these situations - although - as he wanted to state a moment ago, he had never found himself in _this_  situation. Belle pushed back against him almost subtly, taking the first inch of him into her arse. She arched her back and groaned with such feral intensity that Cullen almost climaxed right then and there. Belle rubbed at her own pearl, seeking her own pleasure as Cullen held himself in place. 

"I don't want to hurt you, Belle."  
  
"You won't, I promise," she answered, her face a little muffled by the pillow. "I want to take all of you."

He pushed forward a little more, reveling in how hot and tight she was, occasionally waiting for her to relax and get used to his girth. The discipline involved in this matter made him sweat even more as he held on to her arse, gripping her so hard he hoped he left bruises. He wanted to mark her, make her remember him after he was gone. He shook his head, trying not to think about melancholy things right now, especially since the beauty currently impaled on his staff was now circling her hips, encouraging him to fuck her deeper.

Cullen slid in a little more while hissing at the back of Belle's head, "It is true what they all told me. You  _are_ the greatest whore in all of Orlais."

"You've only been with two whores in all of Orlais, so I shall have to accept your compliment for what it is." Belle pushed back against him, driving him in even more.   
  
"Oh Maker, every inch of you is divine." She giggled back at him, the hand working at her clit moving faster and faster. "Then fuck me, Commander. What is holding you back?" 

No more words came to his lips, he only threw his head back and began to pump in and out of her, never too hard, savoring the friction and the absolute heat of her. Cullen reached around and felt for her clit, pushing her own fingers away. He wanted to be the one giving her pleasure now as he took as much from her as he could, rutting fully into her. Her pussy was even wetter than it was when he had his face buried in it, and his balls were covered in her arousal too. Cullen slapped four fingers against her clit, making her squeal and moan.

"You're so incredibly wet, tight, and hot, you harlot, my slut."  
  
"Oh Cullen, I'm so close, oh fuck, you're so good, harder - even harder, please!"

Their fingers slipped against each other until Cullen realized she was trying to get him to finger her pussy too. He dipped two digits into her, filling her up as she frantically mewled at him in Orlesian, throwing smoldering looks at him over her shoulder.

"I'm so close, so close, please don't stop -"  
  
Cullen worked a third finger into her cunt and she came hard with a gasp, her arms giving out from under her as she cried out his name. Cullen gave her a few more hard pumps, driving her into the pillow even more, until he grunted, emptying himself deep inside her. 

They collapsed onto the bed together, clutching each other. He gazed into her golden eyes, a wave of male pride washing over him as he saw the look on her face.

"Was that - good, my Belle?"

She turned her head to kiss him deeply, grabbing a handful of his blonde hair in a possessive manner. "I shall tell the Empress Celene that what was intended as a gift to the Inquisition instead became a gift for me."  
  
Belle's kisses quickly grew more insistent, her hands sweeping all over him. Cullen couldn't believe it - she was ready to take him once again. He hadn't even caught his breath yet.

"My beauty, didn't you say something about a bath and a massage earlier? I believe I would be up for that at the moment, if only to give me a little chance to - catch up to you."

She dropped her head back on the pillow behind her with an annoyed sound. "Oh, alright, I suppose. You cannot blame a girl for wanting even more. Right away."

Cullen scooped her up without further conversation and carried her through the salon to her spa. Belle used her a touch of magic to heat up the water a little more, making the air in the spa steam up around them. She held his hand as they stepped into the luxuriant pool together. Cullen pulled her into his arms, holding them afloat in the deep water in the middle of the pool. Now he was only gentle, wanting to kiss her and hold her as they floated together. His sweet attention was intoxicating, so much so she forgot the job at hand. Belle guided him over to a shallow end of the pool, bidding him to stand there on one of the tiled steps. She pulled the tray of toiletries closer, grabbing a strange, bristled implement.

"What's that?"  
"It's just a sponge, don't be so paranoid."  
"You must forgive me, I don't dally much in well-appointed villas while a stunning woman saw to my every need."

Belle brushed him all over with the rough loofah, marveling at how lean and hard he was all over. "You are nothing but muscle, Ser. You do not eat decadent meals and sit around on velvet pillows like the men of this country."

She held on to one of his hands as she scrubbed up one of his arms, over his formidable biceps. Cullen flexed for her, and she gave him an appreciative smile. "Yes, I've noticed your countrymen are prone to extravagance, but now that I've had a taste of it I can no longer scoff."

She was now working on his chest, standing close to him. He swept a finger over the arch of her eyebrow, down her jawline, across her bottom lip. Belle was unaccustomed to this sort of detailed observation, it made her blush again. She tried to swat his hands away. "Stop it, you're distracting me."

"Stop it, you're distracting me," he repeated to her, his voice husky and a tone lower.

She turned him around, slapping him on the ass, before continuing to scrub him. "Don't be impertinent or you shall be subject to punishment."

"I'm not afraid of you, Belle - try me." His throaty chuckle made more desire bubble up inside her. For once, she was the one teetering on losing control. She dropped the loofah and switched to a sweet-smelling bar of soap. She smacked his butt cheek again - harder this time, making him legitimately gasp. Belle began to soap him up all over, now truly savoring his contours, ridges - his flesh. She lathered up the columns of his legs, swiping the bar of soap over his sensitive balls before working on his other leg. Cullen stood there and let her worship him with her hands until she gestured for him to rinse.

She started to step out of the pool but Cullen grabbed her before she could leave.

"I believe you deserve the same pampering too, Belle. Your turn now."  
"Cullen, you don't have to -"  
"Why so shy, come here, that's an order."

He used the same bar of soap she used and began to swipe it over her skin, paying more attention to certain areas than others. He circled her ample breasts, rubbing the soap in circles over her nipples, weighing her tits in both his hands knowing it might be a long while before he got to touch a woman this intimately again. He ran the bar of soap across her folds, teasing the edge of it against her pearl and then slipping it between her cheeks to where he had just pleasured her before. He lathered her up from her dainty toes all the way to her velvety earlobes, until she was exhaling small moans at every contact his rough hands made with her skin. 

"Again, Cullen, please? I want you again. I need you inside me."

Cullen was a little amazed when he realized he was ready to take her again, but he didn't think he was going to make it out of the pool. Belle lowered herself into the water and stood back up, washing the soap from her skin, making rivulets of water run across her curves. He swore to himself, wondering how many times could he fuck her if they had a lifetime in front of them. 

"Stop staring and help me Commander!" One of Belle's hands was under the water and Cullen knew what she was doing with it. He picked her up and put her on the top step of the pool, opening her legs wide. They did not bother with foreplay this time, he guided his cock right into her sheath and began rutting her roughly. He kept one hand on the back of her head, so he could stare into her eyes while he possessed her for maybe the last time. She stared back at him, biting her lip, holding on to his ass as he plunged into her over and over again. After a round of sharp thrusts, he would always lean forward to kiss her and taste her mouth before starting back up again. He kept them both dangling at the edge of another orgasm in this manner until Belle was squirming in a combination of frustration and passion.

"Stop toying with me, Ser, I can take no more!"

Cullen surprised her entirely by pulling out of her and leaning forward to suck on her swollen pearl once again. It made her erupt instantaneously, screaming out his name for the second time in an hour's span. Cullen pulled himself out of her and stepped up closer to Belle, his cock in hand.

"Open, my beauty."

She opened her mouth and he stroked himself until emptied his seed onto her waiting tongue. Cullen instantly felt a little shame at what he had just made her do but she swallowed it all down and smiled at him in earnest.  
  
"Massage next?"

"You spoil me, milady." He held a hand out to her to help her stand.   
  
"It is my job to spoil you. But tonight, it has been my pleasure", she murmured at him, her voice soft and sincere. They dried each other off and she lead him back to her salon, after grabbing a bottle of oil off her toiletry tray. She laid him face down on her red velvet settee and straddled his back, giving him a pillow to rest his head on. She rubbed some of the sweet orange oil between her hands before starting on the knots of his neck. 

"My poor Commander. Holds all his tension in his neck and shoulders. Too many responsibilities, details he cannot forget." She comforted him, pouring her magic into her hands to warm them up. It felt like his blood had turned to honey. He could only hum responses back at her as she coaxed him to relax.

"You spend too much time at your desk. The one I saw from earlier, hmm? Or at least the bottom of it." He chuckled into the pillow, then moaned as she found a tense spot at the base of his neck.

"I would like to be there with you sometime, in your Skyhold. All of Orlais is fascinated by the Inquisition and your crusade." Cullen felt her lean forward to kiss him on the tip of his ear as her hands began to work on his shoulder blades. He mumbled something back at her she couldn't hear.

"What was that, Cullen?"  
"It's nicer here, Belle. You wouldn't like my quarters."  
"Why is that, my sweet?"  
"There's a big hole in the roof. Everyone laughs at me about it. Oh, right there, that's the spot."

She dug her knuckles into a knot near one of his shoulder blades, making him sigh with relief. She moved south, rubbing his lower back, kneading his buttocks and thighs. Finally, she sat down and made him roll over so she could rub his feet, something he felt very sensitive about.

"I'd rather you not do that."  
"And why?"  
"Because, you just shouldn't. You don't need to."  
"But I want to, you silly man. The dukes and lords that usually visit me don't object to having their feet rubbed."

Cullen grabbed her hands, looking at her seriously now. "I'm not a duke or a lord. I'm a soldier, raised on a farm. I don't need these gestures. May I just hold you, Belle? Can we sit together on your armchair?"

Belle nodded at him, hoping he didn't quite notice the glimmer of tears in her eyes. He was too sweet, too kind - and he had brought her to orgasm more times in one night than any other man ever had. He picked her up and carried her to her armchair, sitting down with her on his lap. There was a soft blanket thrown across the back of the chair and he wrapped it around both of them, their foreheads touching.

"How much time do we have left?"  
"Not too much, I imagine. Close your eyes. The bells ringing in the Chantry will wake us."

___

 

Cullen heard the tolling of the Chantry's bell tower and his heart plummeted in his chest, making him dry-mouthed and nervous once again. Belle stirred in his lap, her hands still wrapped around his neck. He pressed his lips to hers, once, twice, three times. She gave him a heartbreaking look.

"Your time is up, monsieur. I will help you dress."

She stood up, locating her robe and slipping it back on. She walked to the bench where his armor waited him. Cullen sat there for a moment, looking at her across the room. She never felt farther away than she did in this moment. After a long look at her, he crossed the room to join her. At some point during the night, his clothes had been taken away and laundered and dried for him. He slipped back into his smalls and his pants, pulling his boots back on. Every piece of clothing he put on made him feel less connected to Belle. She helped him slip the tunic back on over his head and he kissed her once again before they began putting his armor back on. Cullen stood up and realized it never felt heavier than it did in this very moment. He looked down at her, but she could not meet his gaze.

"I will walk you out, monsieur. Your carriage is probably waiting for you."

Belle held out her hand and they left her quarters together, heading down the stairs back to the lobby. The front door of the brothel was open already, his carriage stationed at the curb. Cullen noted two Imperial guards were waiting near the front door, but they hadn't been there upon their arrival. 

The Hostess was also waiting nearby, her hands folded in front of her and an anxious look on her face.

"The Inquisitor is already in the carriage, quite drunk I'm afraid. We managed to get him in there and he is fast asleep."

Belle stopped on the second to last step of the staircase so should be at Cullen's height when they spoke. He rained kisses down on her hands and he did not see the Hostess turn away, giving them some privacy.

"Cullen, I am sorry."  
"Sorry for what, Belle?"

She leaned forward and kissed him, slipping her tongue into his mouth for a fleeting last taste of him.   
  
"I am sorry we must part this way. But you cannot leave here remembering my face."

She swept a soft finger tip from his left temple to his right, whispering some strange words under her breath. Cullen felt the faint glow of a spell envelop his mind and before he could react, she had turned and darted up the stairs, leaving the sound of her soft crying in her wake.

Cullen turned around in a daze. The two guards and Hostess were watching him closely. He realized they were expecting him to put up a fight. 

"What just happened?"

The Hostess held her arms out, ushering him to the door. "Your time is up, Commander. You must leave now. Thank you for visiting the Gilded Mask."

Cullen was suddenly on the sidewalk, and then inside the carriage. He had no time to object before he heard the coachman crack his whip and they were off. Cullen could not even take one last glimpse at her window. 

Her.

Cullen's mind scrambled around, trying to locate a memory of her face. What had she done? He had to grasp at the details quickly departing from him.  
  
Belle, her name was Belle.  
  
Only a few moments after leaving her presence, that was all he could remember of her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhh, sorry Cullen! Was that terribly cruel of me?
> 
> Also sorry this was such a long chapter but I gotta get this story going! 2 more chapters on their way, although the next one is gonna be Angst City: Population Cullen.


	5. The Aftermath

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A smut-free chapter. Hang in there, I'll get back to it soon enough.  
> I just love writing this annoying, bratty, bro-tastic version of a male Inquisitor! Despite his flaws, he's a good friend to Cullen.

Cassandra rose early the next morning, wanting to get everyone back on the proper side of the Orlesian border and on the road to Skyhold. Their party had slipped into the easy-going rhythm of life in Val Royeaux, rising late, dining even later, dancing and scheming and playing the Game until it was almost sunrise. She had expected as much from the Spymaster and Ambassador, who were both very much at home in this spider's nest of easily-broken alliances and whispered secrets. She had known Dorian and the Iron Bull were going to have a good time getting themselves into various couplings with Orlesian men, both the kind you casually meet in a pub and the ones you have to pay with coin. She certainly predicted the Inquisitor was going to be "indisposed" with a hangover every morning, whether from women or wine or a combination of both, it did not matter.

What she had never expected was the look on Cullen's face when she caught a glimpse of him after breakfast. He seemed downright forlorn to have to leave Orlais. She had only seen him through the doorway of the room he was sharing with Maxwell. The Inquisitor had opened it a little, but Cassandra had been able to spot Cullen over his shoulder, sitting at a small desk in the corner, writing a report with a broken look on his face.

"What are you two up to, we should get going as soon as possible..."  
  
"Cullen is working on a very special report for me to read, hopefully  _before_ we get all the bloody way back to Skyhold -"

Cullen tried to object, raising his head from his work. "Maxwell, must I -"  
  
"The more you complain about it, the faster I shall want it delivered to me, Rutherford."

Cassandra rolled her eyes. It was usually endearing the way the younger man treated Cullen like  _he_ was his little brother, but this morning she wanted him to conduct himself in a more efficient, professional manner. "And what is so important about this report?"

Maxwell closed the door so it was barely an inch open now. "Nothing. It is - classified information. For my eyes only. And my titillation - unless  _someone_ is leaving out all the details. _Someone_ better not be leaving out all the details!"

Cullen groaned, clutching the quill in both hands. "Trevelyan, I already told you - the most important thing I wish I could remember has - "

Maxwell shut the door without another word to Cassandra, who could only huff in indignation. She jiggled the door knob but found it locked right away. She pressed an ear to the door and heard snippets of their muffled conversation.

 _"But as soon as we left, I could not..."_  
_"Does it matter? You remember the good bits, right -"_  
_"It worries me that I have no recollection of her..."_

Cassandra tried peering through the keyhole now, hoping in vain she'd be able to hear better through even the tiniest space in the door.

 _"Well, now you have me all worked up, was she such a beauty that..."_  
_"What if she has vital Inquisition information, what if she bewitched..."_  
_"Cullen, there's no cause for alarm, she was just -"_

Maxwell took a few steps back toward the door and peeked right through the keyhole at Cassandra.

"Seeker, I can't believe you, spying on us, especially after I expressly dismissed you by shutting the door in your face."

She stood up and knocked with an insistent fist. "Cullen, are you alright? If there is something actually wrong, we should - "

Maxwell swung the door open again, his eyes narrowed in anger at her. " _Lady_ Pentaghast, we will be down shortly. Please go check on the Ambassador and Spymaster." He leaned farther out of his room to yell down the hallway. "But I could care less if Bull and Dorian come back with us since they kept everyone up all night with the sounds of their _rather enthusiastic_   _orgy_!"

Cassandra spun around in time to see Dorian poke his head out of his room, his mustache a little mussed. "It was not an orgy! You exaggerate as usual, you little Free Marcher twat!"  
  
Bull drawled from somewhere inside Dorian's suite. "We only invited the two extra fellows. We did ask that the _other_ _two_ stay behind. What's the saying now? Two's a company, three's a crowd, four's -" 

Maxwell interrupted the Qun, "FOUR IS AN ORGY! Maker's taint, that's the very definition of an orgy!" He mumbled to himself in addition, "I should know, after all..."

Cassandra pinched the bridge of her nose, very much in Cullen's usual style. "Inquisitor, I am going downstairs. And I am leaving by 8 bells. Alone if I have to. The world won't save itself and someone needs to pretend to care."

Cullen had leaned back in his chair to look at her. "I'll be down soon, Seeker. I can finish writing this -"  
"Very important report - " Maxwell prompted him.  
"I can finish my - dossier - once we get on the road."

Cassandra made eye contact with him and was taken aback to see him give her something that seemed like - a guilty look. An evil grin cracked across Maxwell's face as he looked at Cullen. "Are you ever going to tell Cassandra what you did to -"

Cullen was on his feet and slamming the door in her face before Maxwell could say more. She heard the sounds of male tussling and some swearing and even some furniture being pushed around. Cassandra grunted to herself in frustration before she left the two men to their mysterious shenanigans, choosing instead to go make sure their carriages were ready to depart.

  
  
* * * * *

They traveled for a day and a half before Cullen, Bull and Cassandra had enough of the stuffy carriage interiors, each one of the warriors electing to choose a mount at the next little town they stopped in. Cullen found it hard to be lost in his thoughts while the Inquisitor sat across from him, shuffling through the pages of his "report" on what he had done to whom and with whom at the Gilded Mask. The man's sounds of salacious approval - and genuine surprise - were getting to be a bit much in such close quarters. It had made his heart ache to relate all the seedy details to him without telling him of the unbridled passion and emotions. He knew Maxwell was not one for - feelings. His best friend was too young to know that when you have experienced as much loss and pain as Cullen had, one has a tendency to experience anything _good_ and _true_ and _sweet_ at intense levels.

But had she been good and true and sweet? Had she even been real?

He said his name to himself - _Belle_ \- like a small incantation.

He had been internally debating about whether she had been a brunette or a red-head when Cassandra's horse began to nudge his mount off to the side of the road more, and away from where Iron Bull was keeping up with Dorian's carriage so the two could speak to each other through his window. 

"Cullen, you cannot avoid speaking to me forever. And why have you not looked at me for almost 2 days now?"

"Please, please,  _please,_ Seeker. I'm not avoiding you. And - I have looked at you. I'm just...I just -"

Cassandra watched him clench his jaw, looking off toward the horizon. She had a feeling that if it hadn't been awkward to do so, he would have turned all the way around in his saddle to stare back toward the Orlesian border.

"What happened the other night when you and Maxwell went off together?"

Cullen had been weighing telling her everything, especially since he was worried about a potential Inquisition security breach. Maxwell had waved off his anxieties that he might have spilled secrets in Belle's bedroom. He had flicked the pages of his report with a jaunty gesture. "Ser, it does not sound like she even had time for espionage. She was too busy riding you like an unfettered Fereldan stallion!"

Cullen sighed. "Alright, Cassandra. When we decide to stop and rest, I shall tell you the entire story. I don't think Maxwell is going to let you read that report -  _nor should you_. The things I've had to do to keep that man in a good humour, Andraste tests me every day."

Cassandra nodded at him, trying to keep her face impassive with a touch of friendly support. She didn't want Cullen to know how downright curious she was about whatever was afoot. It was worse than waiting for Varric to write another volume of his smutty literary opus.

At the next stop, Cullen waited until their colleagues were suitably distracted with food, drink and rest before he nodded at her to follow him to the empty bar in the back corner of the inn. At this time of day there was no one tending the bar so Cullen reached over and grabbed a whiskey bottle and two glasses. In a low and sometimes shaky voice, he told Cassandra the simplest version of the story. _Belle was a mage of formidable power and overwhelming beauty, she could manipulate the Fade with either the lightest kisses or the most licentious actions. She had been seductive and kind, compassionate and sexy. She comforted him, she pleasured him, she held him as though she needed him too._ He left out some of the more unbelievable things - that she _sparkled_ when she was happy and also _tasted like peaches_ sort of made him sound like a mad man.

And yet he could not remember a single detail of her face or even the sound of her voice. He remembered what he had done with her, and what they had been up to - but nothing else.

Cassandra sat there, sipping her drink, her brow still furrowed.

"What are you leaving out, Cullen? I can tell you are omitting something."

Cullen drank down a consider pull of whiskey before continuing. "Well. There had been another girl there at some point. I suppose there's...no terrible shame in telling you that part. Although I have never done such a thing before, I'll have you know."

Cassandra raised an eyebrow at this. A _menage a trois_ was Maxwell and Dorian's style for sure, but not really Cullen's.

Cullen stared at his whiskey glass now, unable to meet her gaze. "And, um, you were there. But only for a moment! And it wasn't you. It was just magic! She intuited somehow that, ah, maybe once or twice, I have... thought... about you, in  _some_... sort of way. Only once or twice! Oh Maker take me right now, PLEASE."

Cassandra's whiskey glass slipped right out of her hand and hit the ground, shattering everywhere. Maxwell appeared in the doorway, a hand on one of his daggers. 

"Cullen, is everything alright? Andraste's bouncy tits, did...did you just tell her? About her?"  
  
Cullen turned crimson red. Cassandra joined him. Maxwell burst into uncontrollable laughter.

"Oh, I can't take it, this has been the best Inquisition mission ever! Everything will be such a bore after this, even when I squish the beady little eyes right out of Corypheus's disgusting head."

Cullen put his head down on the bar, unable to look at anyone. Maxwell walked across the room to sit down next to Cullen, forcing Cassandra to move one bar stool over to his right. He put an arm around each of them. 

"Now kids, it's not a big deal, we all sometimes have dirty thoughts about each other. If it makes you feel any better, I've thought about both of you, during those boring war council meetings when Josie won't stop going on about some tiny-cocked aristo who thinks we owe him something."

Cassandra reached over and grabbed another glass from behind the bar, pouring herself a new drink. "Inquisitor, please, I don't want to know - "  
  
"You're always in the middle, Seeker. I mean, it seems pretty obvious to me, right? Although, Cullen, I suppose I'd let you put me in the middle. I've never tried that before. Maybe it's _absolutely grand_ , like Dorian maintains."

Now it was Cassandra's turn to rest her head down on the bar, mortified beyond belief. Cullen knew Maxwell was trying to be twice as perverted to get her mind off of what he had just told her, and he gave him a thankful look for it.

"Cassandra, stop being scandalized for a moment, we all know you're read more sordid things in one of your romance novels. Do you think there's anything to Cullen being worried about having told this supposedly-legendary woman any sensitive Inquisition information? I do admit, it gave me a little pause, maybe she drugged him. I know Cullen can hold his drink, there is no way he got massively plowed and simply imagined being in a Dalish-Orlesian pleasure sandwich. Maker, just saying that makes me wish we were heading back there right now."

"Inquisitor!" Cassandra was practically screeching with embarrassment now.

"Alright, I'm sorry, you know I can't help myself. But seriously, do... Do you think this is something we should tell Leliana about? I mean, I hate to get her involved. She can be awfully scary. Cullen wouldn't want her to turn our retinue around to go back to collect this pretty mage's head."

Cullen blanched at the thought, Maxwell thought he even saw the man break into a fine sweat over the possibility. Cassandra looked at him squarely now, which gave Cullen a little relief. Everything was out in the open now and they could go back to being good friends again.

"I don't think Leliana needs to know anything for now. Since Belle's magic was so closely tied to the Fade, perhaps when we get back to Skyhold Solas can take a look at you, see if there is something special about the spell, just for a start."

Everyone sipped their whiskey in silence, Cullen still drowning in his half-memories, Maxwell longing for another dose of Val Royeaux comfort, and maybe feeling jealous of Cullen's out-of-this-world experience. Cassandra looked off out the window, her voice more contemplative now. "Maybe she believed if she did not cast this spell, you would have been unable to leave her side and move on with your life. Maybe she did it for good reasons, as much as it pains you now."

Maxwell nodded his agreement in silence. Cullen looked at the last two inches of whiskey in the bottle they had been sharing. For a brief flicker, he thought maybe her eyes had been that color, similar to his own, but as soon as he had remembered that, another part of his mind contradicted him.

"Maxwell, do you think me...a complete prat, for... Falling in love with a prostitute? Ah, never mind. I feel like a complete prat for having even said it." 

Cullen held his whiskey glass so tight he was close to shattering it, and the Inquisitor took it away from him before he could. "Listen, bruv, I demand you stop beating yourself up. She was clearly _no ordinary whore_ , alright? If she was, we wouldn't be sitting here talking about how she could shape-shift and read minds and cast illusions by waving her talented little fingertips."

The three friends sat in silence together, finishing off the whiskey. Cassandra did not look at either man when she spoke again. "I think it is very romantic, Cullen. Maybe she sent you away without any memories of her because she was in love with you too, and it made it easier for you to part ways."

Even though Cassandra had just been positing an opinion, it felt very possible. He knew somewhere inside of him that Belle had been bewitched by him too, there had been many times that night when she had blushed at his sincere words and flung herself into his arms for a simple embrace and loving kiss, and it had not only been about lust and desire.

"Time and space, Cullen. You will feel better once we get back to Skyhold and back to _work_."

Cassandra got up and rejoined the Spymaster and Ambassador in the other room, where they were still discussing what Madame de So-and-So had been wearing in Halamshiral and maybe how she had been rutting with the Comte of Some-Such-Nonsense who was married to Celene's cousin's cousin's youngest daughter.

Maxwell waited until she was out of the room before he murmured to Cullen, "We can also just, you know - get you another prossie. Maybe that will - "

Cullen squeezed his sword hand shut so hard the Inquisitor heard his knuckles crack. "No. No thank you, Maxwell. I doubt I will ever step foot in a brothel again after this."

"Well, there are plenty of girls back in the castle who make lovey-dovey eyes at you when you're not looking, why not - "  
  
"No, Inquisitor. Time and space please, as the Seeker suggested."

Cullen got up, mumbling something to himself about finding a broom to clean up Cassandra's broken glass.

Maxwell Trevelyan, always unable to keep his mouth shut, called after him. "Don't let Dorian know you're taking a break from women! He's always been sweet on you, Commander!"

Unfortunately for Cullen, Dorian heard Maxwell's teasing from where he had been sitting in the other room. "What was that, Commander? Finally ready to take a walk on the wild side?"

 

* * * * *

 

Back at Skyhold, Cullen subjected himself to Solas's careful study while Cassandra and Maxwell waited for his diagnosis. Solas finished peering into his eyes and ears and down his throat and was now staring at him with his usual deadpan expression.

Maxwell twirled one of daggers while he addressed the elf. "Well, Solas? Is there any way to tell that this is a malicious sort of enchantment? Or that Cullen made up the entire story and he remains the Thedas's most awkward virgin?"

"There is definitely spellcraft at work here, but it is unlike any sort I have ever seen. Did you ask Dorian to take a look?"

Cassandra rolled her eyes. "He wanted Cullen to disrobe completely and he refused so that was the end of that."  
  
"Did you ask Vivienne for an opinion?"  
  
Cullen's eyes widened in horror. "Maker no, she hates me already, and now you want me to willingly tell her a story about being at an Orlesian brothel with a  _sex mage_ who -"

"... _began to kiss the Dalish girl, running her hands up and down the girl's ivory arms. So, dessert first, she said, in a seductive tone, and then we shall decide, do you want her first? Or shall I have her – and you watch? Or – do you want to share her at the same time? She is – incredibly sweet, all over.”_

The Seeker, Inquisitor and Commander froze as Leliana descended the nearby stairwell, holding a portion of the "report" Cullen had dutifully written for the Inquisitor. Wily Solas had already disappeared faster than Cullen thought possible.

 "Wh-where did you get that?", Cullen stammered, nearly wobbling off the stool he had been seated on.  
"The Inquisitor left it on his desk, and judging by the condition the pages are in, he's re-read it more than a few times."

The three muttered things at the same time, Cullen issuing a prayer to Andraste to save him, Maxwell asserting it was his right to re-read it as many times as he wanted, and Cassandra quietly asking if she could just look at a few pages of it when Leliana was done.

"Commander, I understand you might be worried about this Belle. I can make some discreet inquiries, nothing that would ever get back to Empress Celene of course. We wouldn't want her thinking you welcomed her gift with suspicion or regret - "

Cullen interrupted, the force of his words stunning all into a moment of silence. "I do not  _regret_ what I did at all, Sister Leliana. I  _regret_ that she is not here by my side at this moment."

The women's faces softened while Maxwell pouted at his friend in worry. "Cullen, I know it's only been a few days but, you must face the situation with your usual pragmatism. You're never going to see her again, unless Leliana tracks her down and scares her into seeing you."

Leliana poked a finger at Maxwell's side. "Boo!"  
He jumped like he always did. "You know that I'm ticklish and that I've asked you before to  _not do that!_ "

A new voice joined the conversation. "I think it is very suspect that  _Cullen_ received this special coin. It feels like the Empress should have given the gift to Maxwell, since he was the one at work all night at the Winter Palace." 

Cullen threw his hands up in frustration. "So, everyone knows! Josie, you read my report?"

The Ambassador had slipped into the solarium as quietly as Solas had exited it. "I only grabbed the pages Leliana wasn't captivated with at the time! You're quite literary, Cullen! I'm surprised."

Maxwell slapped Cullen on the back in pride. "I told him that too! It's a cracking fun read. He didn't leave out any details - well, except Belle's face and maybe the shape of her hips. But Josie brings up a good point, it really feels like someone targeted Cullen in particular. Maybe the Gilded Mask is a front for Celene - or some other scheming Orlesian bastard - to collect information."

"Are you suggesting that whorehouse - was really a spy network?" Leliana responded, half-believing it already.

Everyone stood in silence, mulling this over. Except Cullen, who got off the stool and started heading for the door back to the main keep. 

"Cullen, where are you going?" Maxwell called after him.  
"To drill the troops, read some  _real_ reports, catch up on correspondence, check in on requisitions. You know. Work. I have no further opinion on this matter."  
"Up for a round of sparring later?"

The Commander was gone before he could answer the Inquisitor. Maxwell turned to face the ladies again. 

"Leliana, make your inquiries but be as sneaky as possible please. Do not offend the Empress - or Cullen - with more questions. Cassandra, keep an eye on him, will you? He's always been taciturn, too taciturn for his own good. But don't make it look like we're worried about him, he doesn't like that either. And Josie - "

Josephine's face lit up, she always loved to help too. "Yes, Inquisitor?"

"Put Cullen's report back together! And the pages better be in order too!"

Maxwell took the sheets of vellum out of Leliana's hands and thrust them toward the Ambassador. 

  
* * * * *

Cullen went about his Inquisition affairs as he always did, keeping so busy he naturally began to fixate less and less on his adventure in the Orlesian capital. Sometimes he would remember a tiny fragment of something, especially if he was in the middle of pleasuring himself - he could recall sweeping a hand down an arched back, soft sheets crumpled up beneath him. If he passed through the garden and certain flowers were in bloom, he remembered her - never her face, but her presence. Once or twice when he meditated in the chapel, praying to Andraste to have but one more moment with her, he thought he heard a wistful sigh hanging in the air, but it was certainly his imagination because he had been alone.

As far as he knew, Leliana's investigation had yielded nothing. There was indeed a brothel a few streets down from the Chantry, patronized by only the highest class of clientele, but no one had ever heard of a Belle living on the second floor in a luxurious suite. To Cullen's surprise, his smutty report did not "accidentally" circulate throughout Skyhold due to Maxwell's mischievousness or carelessness. He knew no one else had learned of his night at the Gilded Mask because the always-joking Sera or wise-cracking Varric had no witty remarks to lob at him, besides the usual ones. Sometimes he thought one of his friends was giving him a bit of a piteous, sympathetic look, especially if he avoided answering their questions about how he was feeling, but he could live with that. With time, they will forget too. 

Even though he did not brood over her, Belle was still very much with him, as though he was carrying her in his pocket.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't worry, Belle hasn't forgotten about the Commander either.  
> A little more story coming your way, with an inevitable segue into the smut.


	6. The Diplomat

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Subjecting you to one more long-ish story chapter and then hand to the Maker, it'll be an all smut all feels ending.

Cullen was not looking forward to the Inquisitor's return from Emprise du Lion. His reports were full of complaints about how he needed a break and sometimes in the middle of describing his findings or passing on a list of supplies his team might need, Maxwell broke into flowery prose directed toward Cullen about exactly what kind of vacation they would both need very soon, if only the Spymaster and Ambassador would stop "putting a boot up our arses". He was not going to like the news that an envoy from Orlais was on their way to their front door. Celene had named a special ambassador just to handle Inquisition matters of trade and diplomacy and Leliana and Josephine were anxious to prove that they were not just a cobbled-together organization of outsiders and rejects.

"Start a wish list for your military, Cullen. The Orlesians are obviously already rather fond of you."  
  
"Alright. Outfit every one of my soldiers in dragon bone, from helm to greaves. Also I'd like one of those silly Orlesian hats, with the stupid feather in it. I could make Maxwell wear it around Skyhold after losing a bet."

Cullen watched Josie start to write down his answer, but she stopped when she got to the hat part, crossing out the end of that sentence with two annoyed quill scratches.

"You might have to settle for silverite, Commander. We have already heard Celene's Ambassador is a noblewoman of great wealth who is willing to part ways with her resources at a very fair price to us."

The Commander mumbled something to himself, while looking over Maxwell's last missive.   
  
"And what was that, Cullen?"  
"She will expect something in return, Josie. That's how business works."  
"We haven't found out what she wants yet, so until then - be nice, please."

Leliana was standing at far corner of the war table, checking one of her daggers for sharpness. "Cullen, we know sometimes  _nice_ is hard for you, so just try rigid and terse. We can live with that."

The door swung open, revealing a very travel-weary Maxwell, who dropped his saddlebags on the floor with a heavy thud.

"Who needs to be nice?"  
"You do, and Cullen. But first - welcome back, Inquisitor!"

At Josie's buoyant tone, Maxwell narrowed his eyes. "What's going on, Josephine? When you're happy it makes me nervous."

Cullen took three big steps around the war table while Josie told him the update - and covered his eyes with an annoyed hand as Maxwell began to throw a tantrum. 

"No, no, no, no, NO! I just got back! This moment! And you're telling me some frilly Orlesian gits expect me to git-around with them _tomorrow_  ? Have you gone absolutely mental, Josie!"  
"I promise you, Lord Trevelyan, you won't have to do much more than dine with us, maybe have tea - "  
"Tea!? Tea!? Does Cullen have to have tea?"  
"Well, no, unless he'd like to have tea."  
  
Cullen looked at his friend, trying not to smile. "No, I do not want to have tea."  
"If Cullen doesn't have to have tea, then I don't want to have tea."

Josie and Maxwell began to bicker, talking at the same time, refusing to hear each other, Leliana also joining in. The conversation was reaching an unreasonable volume when Cullen slammed a fist on the war table, making everyone jump. 

"Steady on, Cullen," Maxwell said with his eyes wide.  
"Listen, Josie. What did I just tell you about business? Trevelyan simply wants something in return for his - having to have tea."

Josie crossed her arms, glaring at the Inquisitor. "This isn't _like business_ , he's like a child!"

Cullen kept calm. "Then treat him as such. Give the brat a cookie, and maybe he'll do his chores."

"I don't like being called a brat, but yes, I would like a cookie. Give me a cookie, you two. Come on, cookie time." Maxwell pouted.

The two women exchanged a long, nuanced look. Cullen and the Inquisitor often thought they could communicate without talking.

"Alright, Maxwell. After Celene's ambassador leaves - you can go on this mini-break you have been clamoring for for weeks. With the Commander at your side, as you have requested -"

Maxwell swept around the table to give Cullen one of his brotherly bear hugs. "Yessss, see how I handled that, Cullen, just as we planned!"

Cullen shoved him, he wasn't supposed to admit they had _planned_ any of this.

Leliana gave them both a steely gaze. "For that remark, you do not get to go away for a fortnight, only one week. And if you offend this Orlesian _but once_ during her visit, I'll make it a weekend."

  
* * * * *  
  
Cullen was trickier to pin down than the council thought. The next day he "surprised" his troops with an early morning extended drill sequence outside of Skyhold, marching them up and down a few mountain paths until he was almost certain every single one of his men were cursing his name. On their way out of the fortress, they passed a small convoy made up of three ornate carriages plus supply wagons. Cullen did not stop his men from their march, ordering them to simply part to make way for the intrusions. Cullen sat astride his war horse, ready to nod politely at the visitors. The first two carriages carried noble lords and ladies who crowded the windows to gawk at him and the passing soldiers. 

The third carriage contained only one woman, her face hidden behind an ivory mask, outlined with gold. His mount nickered beneath him, a little skittish and Cullen had to turn his attention to calming him before looking back at the mystery guest. She raised a gloved hand at him in a simple wave. He found himself waving back at her, even though he wanted to maintain an aura of unavailability while these foreigners were mucking around in his halls. When he returned the gesture, she touched the tips of her fingers to her lips, before sitting back in the carriage, hidden from view.

_Damned Orlesian girls, always so... flirtatious._

Cullen realized he had heard something strange during their exchange - like wind chimes, a light ethereal sound, akin to delicate glassware clinking together. 

He shook it off as quickly as it had registered with him, spurring his horse to catch up with his knight-captains at the front of the column.  
  
A few hours later, the Commander returned to Skyhold with his troops, hoping it had been long enough that the stuffy introductions had already been made, tea consumed and the Orlesians already taking their pre-dinner naps they were so fond of. Cullen wanted to go straight to his room to send for a hot bath but he was practically tackled by one of Leliana's messengers.

"Ser, they have been waiting for your return now for ages. Made 3 pots of tea and everythin'."  
"Bloody tea. Bloody diplomacy."  
"They sent along a note too, Ser."

Cullen unfolded the note. In simple block letters, it read:

_SHE is disappointed you are not here, Commander_

  
He crumpled it up with a long, resigned sigh. Alright, if they demanded to see him, they'd see him just as he was at the moment, smelling of sweat and hard work, muddy boots and all. 

Cullen made his way to the main keep, knowing if Maxwell had to "do diplomacy", he often preferred to lord it over everyone by sitting on the throne where he sent their enemies to the executioner. He stalked through the great hall, past the murmuring aristos, slipping around the pack of people congregating at the Inquisitor's throne to stand at Maxwell's right side.

"Bloody hell, you took long enough," Maxwell sniped at him, from the corner of his mouth, a fake smile still plastered on his face.

Josie gestured to Cullen grandly, introducing the woman he had seen in the carriage earlier. 

"Commander, this is the  _Comtesse Severine Serizy_ , the Empress Celene's special envoy to the Inquisition, she - "

A word slipped from Cullen's mouth, before he could stop himself: " _Belle?_ "

The woman tittered a little in Orlesian, fluttering open her fan to cover her smile. Another masked noble at her side came forth to stand at her elbow, translating her words for Cullen. "The Comtesse is flattered at your compliment, Commander. She was not expecting as such from a military man."

Maxwell spoke to him under his breath again. "Cullen, it's not Belle, this is - a different lady, can't you see? She doesn't even speak in the common tongue."

Cullen could not cover his blush. _The common tongue. The phrase sent him right back to the menage a trois with the Dalish girl._ Maker's breath, he thought he was done with those half-memories. 

He pulled himself out of his thoughts and realized everyone was staring at him. He glanced over the translator's shoulder and saw Varric and Cassandra standing in the shadows, pantomiming something at him. He squinted and realized they were telling him to Bow Over Her Hand, You Fool. Cullen approached the woman with half a step, holding out his gloved hand. She slipped her hand into his and he bent over it.  
  
She smelled like night-blooming flowers, and Cullen was struck by an overwhelming sense of  _déjà vu._

He stood up quickly, determined to extricate himself from all of this. "Ladies, Inquisitor, I must see to some important Inquisition business, I am honored to have met you, and look forward to hearing how our alliance can benefit us all."

The Comtesse issued a quick sentence in Orlesian, she sounded a little flustered and her translator was quick to pipe up. "What sort of business removes you from our pleasant company, Commander Rutherford?"

Maxwell narrowed his eyes at Cullen as if he was saying, "Let's see you get out of this one, Serah."

"Such course and rather detail-oriented work is not appropriate conversation for beautiful women. I bid you adieu for now and shall see you all at dinner."

Cullen turned on his heel, and stomped away to his quarters. He heard Maxwell make up a quick excuse before following him for part of his retreat.

"Rutherford, what is wrong with you? Leliana and Josie will never let us on a mini-break if you insist on -"

He pulled Maxwell into Solas's quarters, pushing the younger man into a corner. "Maxwell, I must put some distance between myself and this situation, because I'd _swear my life on it_ that _that woman in there_ is MY Belle. And I know you will tell me she isn't, and everyone will tell me the same - so... that settles it. I'm clearly going mad. Kirkwall broke me once and maybe this is it, this is the final straw."

Maxwell put a hand on each shoulder, looking at him in the eye. "Let's be calm here. If it is her, then...what in the Void is she doing here? Is she here to do more spying? Should we tell Leliana or will we both sound crazy? She brought a chef with her to cook for us, plus three sous chefs, not to mention 3 wagons full of precious metals and extravagant gifts. What's it all about, Cullen?"

Cullen sighed. "I don't know. And if it isn't her, Maxwell? Then what? Is it the lyrium withdrawal? All my former trauma come back to haunt me? I should tell Cassandra. Perhaps it is time to be relieved of my duties."

Maxwell took a step back, very hurt and worried now. Cullen began heading toward the door that lead to his quarters. "I shall see you at dinner, Inquisitor. Let us not worry about it. I'm sure she is just exactly who she says she is."

  
* * * * *

   
At dinner, Cullen entered the main hall a little on the late side, wearing black leathers, a simple white linen shirt and a burgundy overcoat. He ran a hand through his hair when he realized they had placed him right next to the Comtesse. Maxwell gave him an odd look as he sat down, whispering to him, "Look at her necklace, Cullen. I think I'm going mad too."

Cullen pretended to reach for the salt, even though nothing had been served yet. He took a glance at the Comtesse's cleavage. Right there between two tantalizing mounds of tan, perfect flesh was  _the coin,_ the one Cullen had used at the Gilded Mask. 

"It can't be, it just looks like it, Maxwell." He had spent the rest of the afternoon telling himself he had definitely seen something that wasn't there in this visiting Orlesian woman. What he could remember of his Belle was she was ravishing and beautiful, kind and charming. The woman seated next to him was like any other woman whose affections he spurned that night at the Winter Palace.

As if by cue, the Comtesse addressed him. Cullen found it distracting that he had to look at her translator instead of right at her. 

"Are you feeling better, Commander? You seemed - agitated, earlier. A long day with your troops, I assume?"  
"You are correct, your grace."

Cullen wanted to turn back to talk to Maxwell but he felt the Comtesse's gloved hand land on his knee under the table, making him freeze into place. He tried to get a better look at her eyes under the mask as she spoke again.

"I have brought you a treat all the way from Val Royeaux, my chef's cuisine will make you forget your worries. And I cannot wait for you to have the dessert course."

As the translator got to that last sentence, Cullen blushed, especially as she gave his knee a little squeeze. Luckily for Cullen, Josephine drew her attention away with a chirpy question, the two women able to gossip away without the Comtesse's translator.

The Comtesse kept her hand on Cullen's knee during the entirety of the meal, inching it up a bit every once a while, making him feel warmer than he ought to feel. When dessert came, he felt faint. It was a pile of strawberries and whipped cream, nestled on a shortbread. He put one spoonful of it into his mouth and almost immediately, the Comtesse slid her hand up to his thigh under the table. He had to do something about this now. He reached under the table and removed her hand as gently and politely as he could.

"I am sorry, Comtesse, you - don't understand..."

Cullen did not want the translator to have to deal with this, she was busy giggling at something inane Maxwell was saying anyhow. "My lady, my heart - " He touched a hand to his chest, hoping she understood. "...belongs to another."

He was surprised when she answered him back in his language. "Ah, I see, Commander. I do apologize."

Cullen glanced at Cassandra a few seats down, who was giving him a concerned look. He must be blushing hard enough to be seen from some distance. Cullen shook his head at her, hoping it would cue her to not worry. The Comtesse saw their wordless exchange and continued in a quiet voice only they could hear. "I should have known - you are too handsome to not be spoken for. Perhaps I have come all this way for nothing."

Before he could respond, she turned to converse with Leliana across the table.

 

* * * * *

The next day the Comtesse Severine joined them in the war room, discussing where the Orlesians suspected Corypheus' movements were disrupting specific trade routes or where new rifts were terrorizing farms and villages. Cullen was taken aback when he realized the woman had a mind for both business and strategy, as she offered suggestions as to how they could maximize their time and efforts in the region. She also detailed the gifts that had been in the supply wagons that had rolled into Skyhold with her - trunks of silverite that could be melted down to reinforce the gear they already had and also forge at least a hundred new swords, bolts of silks and velvets for their mages, nearly two sack-fulls of rare, dried felandaris to improve their healing potions. She heaped these gifts at their feet until even Josephine was a little speechless. 

"Your generosity, Comtesse - it overwhelms us. What could we ever possibly do in return?"

The Comtesse's translator spoke up for her, although the noblewoman's voice had a touch of sadness to it. "The Comtesse says, oh, you know, save the world."

They were interrupted by two of Severine's servants, who entered with two ornate boxes. The bigger of the two was handed to Cullen, while Maxwell took the smaller case.

"One last special gift for each of you. The Empress is still very indebted to the Inquisition, and before you head to the Arbor Wilds, she wishes for you to travel into battle with tokens of her esteem."

Maxwell's box contained a set of deadly daggers. They were lovely enough, a little on the fancy side, as if they were also meant to be worn to a party in Halamshiral. But Cullen had to hold back a gasp when he opened his box. It was the most beautiful broadsword he had ever laid eyes on, with an inlay of gold travelling down the center of it. The handle depicted a roaring lion framed by twining roses, and it was set with a special rune. Cullen could feel its protective magic winding around him as he placed a hand around its pommel. 

Cullen looked up at the noble, who looked away shyly, flapping her fan in front of her even though the war room was chilly that morning. "Madame, I cannot accept this. It is - much too fine of a gift."

He felt Josie nudge him with a sharp elbow, while Maxwell spoke to him through a pained smile. "Take. The sword. Cullen. Or. Leliana. Is. Going. To kill you."

Cullen took a few steps forward and gave the Comtesse a deep bow over her hand. "Forgive my manners, once again. I will be honored to carry the Empress's gift into - "

She interrupted him, not needing her translator - and shocking the rest of the war council who did not know she could speak anything other than Orlesian. "My gift. I ...brought it here for you, Commander."

He corrected his words, even though he was feeling more confused than ever. "I will be honored to carry  _your gift_ into battle with me."

She dipped into a small bow for him. "I am glad it pleases you, Commander. And - Inquisitor, Sister Leliana, Ambassador - I shall see you all at dinner tonight."

The Comtesse left the war room with her translator and servants, leaving the scent of her perfume hanging in the air. Everyone turned on Cullen as soon as the door shut behind her.

"When someone offers you a gift, Cullen, you just take it! Your manners are atrocious, did you grow up on a farm? Oh, that's right, you did, you did grow up on a farm." Maxwell always got a little classist when he was irritated. Cullen jabbed a finger back at him. "Watch your mouth, rich boy, or we'll have to go settle this in the sparring ring."

Maxwell pouted at his gift. "A set of boring old daggers with pretty handles, phooey. Meanwhile, you get a weapon that could behead three men at the same time."

Leliana balled up an old report and threw it right at Cullen's head. "You better be nothing but lovely to the Comtesse tonight at dinner, Cullen, or your mini-break will be down to half an hour!"

Josie waggled a finger at him. "No no no no no, I will not risk more of Cullen's fumbling tonight. We'll just change the seating chart at the main table."

The two men bid a hasty retreat at the words "seating chart" - they had been tortured many times before with this sort of talk. Out in the hallway, Maxwell stopped Cullen before they made it to the main keep.

"Cullen. Rich Orlesian women don't just show up on your doorstop with incredible gifts for no reason. That's your girl. That's her. Nothing else makes any sense. But why come back after she wiped your memory? Why bother?"

Cullen ran a hand through his hair, thinking hard about this. "I shall just have to ask her, at some point, won't I? Because what am I supposed to do, ask her to take off her mask? Tell her, 'You remind me of a prostitute I once knew?'"

A sly look crept across Maxwell's face. "You could just...seduce her, you know. You could get the mask off of her and you know, get those knees up by her ears, give her the old Fereldan how do you do..."

"Maxwell!"  
"What? What'd I say?"  
  


* * * * *

  
Cullen would not get his opportunity to speak to her further at dinner. Josie had placed him many seats away, between Blackwell and Solas, which felt like a bit of a punishment. He spent most of the night staring at the Comtesse, who was flirting with Inquisitor in a way that made his food hard to swallow. After dessert, he gathered his courage, and approached her when everyone was mingling near one of the keep's big roaring fireplaces.

"Comtesse, if you are - ah, amenable, to such a thing, may we take a small walk together? Around the battlements, perhaps? The Frostbacks are beautiful in the moonlight."

Severine glanced at her translator, who was drinking a little brandy with some of the Orlesian merchants who had set up shop in their courtyard. 

"Alone, if possible? I think we can manage." Cullen let his eyes look down at the coin nestled between her breasts, before he looked back into her eyes. She nodded now, excited and nervous.

"Yes, Commander. Right away."


	7. The Reunion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I made you wait - and that it's a long one! YIKES!

Cullen offered Severine his arm, and they walked in silence along the battlements, under a silvery-blue moon. He drew her farther away from the keep, to where he hoped that if she felt the need to yell at him for what he was about to ask her, she would not be immediately heard.

"Comtesse, I must ask you to remove your mask."  
  
"Ser Rutherford, that would be - very..."

She made a vague gesture, pretending to not know the word she was looking for as she inched away from him, but Cullen grabbed her hand, feeling bold.

"Belle, I know it is you. I knew it was you the moment I saw you."

The Comtesse exhaled deeply, Cullen's eyes drawn to her tantalizing cleavage, where  _the coin_ still dangled between her breasts. "I am very jealous of this woman you believe me to be, Commander Rutherford, but I assure you..."

"Why did you erase my memory of you, Belle?"

She looked away, back toward the great hall. Cullen felt like he was standing at the edge of a precipice, waiting to take a leap, and either fly - or fall. 

"Because you needed to come back here. Your work is important, Cullen. I knew from knowing your heart, your memories, that this Inquisition means the world to you, and I did not want your desire for me to interrupt that."

He drew closer to her, mesmerized by her voice. It was _her_ , she was admitting it - something he had prayed for so fervently was actually happening.

"You know, we had met before, Cullen - before you stepped into my Gilded Mask. I dropped my ring somewhere in the Winter Palace garden, a piece of jewelry very dear to my heart. The Inquisitor was busy looking for another waiter to bring him more champagne - but you stopped to help me."

Cullen did remember the moment, she was distraught, he had tried to help...

"I tried to talk to you later, but you were surrounded by admirers and I was just another one of them to you. You brushed me off. But I _wanted_ you. And I wasn't going to give up."

He held his breath as he watched her reach behind her head to untie the lace at the back of her mask.

"I came up with a little scenario, hoping to trap you. I asked Celene to give Maxwell the coin and feed him the story. That day, I watched you arguing with him in the street, I prayed you to Andraste you would relent and come in - and you did."

She slipped the mask from her face, but Cullen could not see her features clearly, she was just a blur. He leaned in closer anyhow, trusting it was Belle now, feeling that it was her. She reached a hand out and touched his forehead lightly with her fingers. He blinked a few times and she came into focus, and there was her full bottom lip, her dark-brown eyes flecked with the rays of a shining sun, and her exotic high cheekbones. Cullen wrapped his arms around her and crushed her to him, pressing his lips to hers before whispering against her soft earlobe, "My Belle, you are here. I didn't imagine you. Our being together - it really happened?"

He pulled back to look at her and she smiled at him, tears glinting at the corners of her eyes. "I do play chess too, Cullen. Had you come to my chambers that day and asked only for a game and a glass of wine, I would have been overjoyed to oblige you."

Cullen pulled off his gloves, putting them down next to her mask on the nearby ledge. He swept his hands up her smooth shoulders, up her neck, to land to cup her face. "Oh, sod the chess."

He kissed her and almost swooned against her petite frame, she tasted so good, better than that long-ago last dose of lyrium, as refreshing as a mountain spring, sweet like fruit that had the luxury of ripening on the vine. Cullen pressed her up against the cold stone behind them, trying to feel more of her body against his, but her starchy, voluminous dress kept them apart.

"I abhor your silly fashions, my lady..."  
"Cullen, could we find a more private place anyhow?"

She pointed at something - someone - behind him. Cullen looked over his shoulder and spotted one of his many minions frozen, mid-march, in his nightly patrol.

"Ser, do you require...assistance?"  
"Jim. Go check on something - anything - on the other side of the fortress please. Check on it 18 times, if possible."

He skittered off so intimidated that Belle could not help but laugh. "Oh Cullen, I am so glad I could see you here, where you -  _command -_ "

Cullen's thoughts turned back to the carnal as he dipped his lips to her smooth, elegant neck. "Does it turn you on, Mademoiselle Serizy?"

"Perhaps it does. Why don't you try commanding me and we'll see how it goes?"

Cullen leaned down, dancing his rough fingertips over her cleavage, tracing her collarbone.  Belle shuddered as he whispered with his whiskey-warm voice right into her ear. "You will go to my quarters, remove every last piece of clothing on your body - slowly - while I watch, and then lie down on my bed and spread your legs for me..."

"Then what?"  
_"I will make you come so many times you will be unable to walk to breakfast tomorrow morning."_

She whispered back at him, nervousness in her voice. "But what about your lady love? Your Seeker?"  
Cullen pulled a truly confused face. "Wh-what? My...who?"  
"The other night at dinner, you told me your heart belonged to another?"

Belle watched his face change from bewilderment to clarity. "Lady Serizy, I was referring to _you_. Belle - you have had my heart since the moment I laid eyes on you."

"And now that we have established the feeling is mutual, Commander - where is this bedroom of yours? This way?"

She began yanking him down the walkway, but she was going in the wrong direction. He pulled her back and lead the way to his office, the two of them laughing together. He never thought he'd have room for anything like this in his life. He never thought he'd see her again. 

He certainly never once believed he'd be dragging a rich Orlesian noblewoman around the battlements of Skyhold to his bedroom to rut her senseless.   
  
  
* * * * *

Cullen pushed open the door to his office, holding it open for her before locking it tight. She watched him with expectant eyes as he locked the two other doors. 

"So, this is. My office."

She looked around, sweeping a gloved hand across the spines of his military tomes before peering out the window that faced the snowy mountain peaks to the east. She walked around his desk, noting the neat piles of correspondence, his quill and inkwell aligned with precision on his blotter. She sat on the edge of his desk, playing with an end of her hair.

"It's nice. You're very tidy. I like that. You're all muscle, golden curls, good manners and - apparently you dust."

She wiped a finger down the length of his desk and then showed it to him - her white satin glove remained spotless. Her teasing smile turned seductive, as she began to peel that glove off. Cullen sat down in the chair behind his desk and watched her drop the glove on a pile of his letters. Belle reached forward with the hand still gloved and pressed a finger between his lips. "Bite," she commanded him.  He bit down on the tip of her glove and she sat back slowly as it slid down her arm. Cullen balled it up and threw it in a corner over his shoulder, his eyes never leaving her slow strip-tease.

Belle reached behind her to undo the ribbon at her waist, holding up her skirts. He tugged on the hem of her gown, letting the garment pool on the floor beneath them. Under her skirts was the strange, bird cage-like frame that gave her dress its particular Orlesian flair - she had to step out of it and scoot it away with the toe of her satin slipper before sitting down again before him with a shy smile.

"Sorry. I know it - breaks up the rhythm of my little display."

Cullen leaned forward to land a light kiss on her kneecap. "Stop apologizing for your strange underthings and continue removing your clothes."

Her hands moved faster now, no longer teasing, her eyes locked on his while she undid little bows and loosened laces. She flung away her vest and blouse before peeling off her lacy smalls. Cullen darted to his feet, quickly shedding his his clothes and discarding them on top of hers. Belle was down to her corset now, working on the row of tiny hooks that held the garment together. Cullen almost broke into a nervous sweat watching her at this annoying last task until he could wait no longer. With two strong hands he grasped the garment and tore it in two, making Belle gasp as her breasts were exposed to him. He circled his arms around her, pulling her close - then his mouth was on hers, moving to her neck, biting her possessively on a shoulder, before making its way to a nipple. Her head dropped back as she moaned, holding on to the nape of his neck.

"Cullen, you are an animal tonight - "

He traced a circle around her other nipple before stopping to press his forehead to hers, a ravenous look in his eyes. "You gave me the gift of a night with you once to only take it away and I cannot be sure you will not do it again to me. So tonight, I mean to possess you - as you are in  _my_ chambers now."

He pressed her back against the desk, on a pile of letters, making the parchment crinkle beneath them. Belle could not keep track of his mouth as he kissed and licked and bit her and she felt as though he wanted to devour her as he left marks of his passion all over her skin - it made her sigh, a sound that traveled right down his spine to his cock. He stopped for a moment, looking at her panting on her back against all his correspondence and never-ending paperwork, her smooth, tan legs wide and a dainty foot on each of the armrests of his chair. She bit her lip in anticipation, looking at him looking down at her.

"Cullen?"

He inhaled sharply and swept everything around her off his desk with two motions of his arms. Before she could issue any protestations, he pushed one of her knees up toward the crook of her arm, opening her wider, finding her glistening wet with arousal already. He sat back down in his chair, pulling it closer, before grabbing her behind her arse and drawing her to the edge of the desk. He leaned forward and with the tip of his tongue, gave her pearl one single, feather-light lick. Belle arched her back, crying out.

"Cullen, please!"  
"Please what?"  
"More, please! Or your cock, or your fingers - just - more!"

She wove her fingers through his hair and tried to push him against her but he was stronger and he resisted.

"You have no rank here, milady. You will do as I say or suffer further punishment."

She writhed her hips in front of him as he repeated his torturous, tiny little lick against her most sensitive bud. She now tried to press him closer by throwing a knee over his shoulder and shimmying closer to his lips but he kept a hand pressed to the back of her knee, keeping her from gaining any purchase against the desk.

"Belle, must I restrain you? Is that what you want?"  
"Cullen, why are you being so cruel? I did not come all this way for you to be so - "

He dropped his head between her thighs again, this time circling her clit with a very satisfying flick of his tongue. Her moan almost sounded like a sob as she tried to push her hips up against his mouth. She was whining in Orlesian now, the meaning of her words lost to him, but he hoped she was both cursing him and praying for him to fuck her. She rebelled again, trying to push his head against her pussy.

"That's it, Mademoiselle Serizy. You cannot follow orders so you must incur the punishment. Up the ladder this instant."

He was standing above her, glowering down at her in lust - a touch of playfulness in his eyes. Belle slammed a hand against his desk in frustration.

"Just make me come, Messere! Or I shall do it to myself!"

She pouted at him as her fingers moved to her pussy. She began pleasuring herself with a defiant look on her face, moaning loudly and making a show of it. Her other hand massaged a breast, squeezing it and rolling the nipple between her fingers. Cullen pumped his cock while watching her, wanting to see how far she would go. Her fingers worked faster and faster, her breath becoming ragged and a blush on her cheeks. He waited until her fingers were almost a blur and was she close to the edge of release before he stood up and pushed his cock into her until he was balls-deep. She cried out so hard she hit her head on the desk behind her and Cullen's face went from lust-driven to full of concern.

"Belle?"

She giggled, rubbing the back of her head. "I'm fine, my love, you're so incredibly sweet even when you're trying to act like - you are the master of the bedroom."

He bent forward to give her a little kiss, still deep inside her, before standing up with annoyance.

"Wait a moment here, I  _am_ the master of this bedroom."  
"This is an office."

Cullen could not believe this woman, impaled on his cock, teasing him with the double-edged sword of her wit and her beauty. He pulled out of her with no warning, making her whine with disappointment.

"Up the ladder then, milady, change of venue. I hope the accommodations are - "

Before he could finish she had hopped off his desk with an excited squeak and was halfway up the ladder. She paused, giving him a nice view of her adorable peach-shaped arse. "Cullen, are you coming?"

He took a few steps to catch up with her and nearly tripped over a pile of their own clothes while the sound of her lilting laughter drifted down to him from his bedroom. He kicked away the troublesome items and raced up the ladder to follow her.

  
* * * * *

Upstairs in his room, Belle was already under the sheets, shivering a little. He slid under the coverlet, pinning her to the mattress, pressing his lips to her neck while Belle looked around the room.

"You weren't joking when you told me you had a hole in the roof. However do you sleep in here?"   
"I have to sleep here alone, that's what makes it even colder."

Belle put two hands on his shoulder and pushed him south, opening her legs. No longer wishing to tease, Cullen got to work, lapping at her cunt like it was the very first time back in her bedroom. 

"May I fix it, Cullen?"

He paused, sliding two fingers into her pussy, not looking up at her but answering her question. "Fix  _what?_ Aren't we a little busy?" From between her legs he heard her murmur a few words and then the icy breeze that was a perpetual presence in his bedroom completely disappeared. He looked up and still saw the sky, but she had sealed up the hole with some sort of enchantment. Belle gave him a jaunty, pleased smile.

"You're welcome?"  
  
"Belle, is there something you cannot do?" Cullen gave her a few more soft kisses, right on her pearl, making her sigh. 

"Actually, Cullen. I was so excited to be with you again - to bed you again - that I came up with something. A spell for you."

Cullen shook his head, now circling a few fingers around her swollen clit. "No more magic. I don't trust you, you minx!"  
  
"But I just fixed your roof!  _Please Cullen._ I promise it is nothing bad - only something to make you feel good."

He shook his head again, dipping his head to continue pleasuring her, but she closed her thighs, scooting away from him on the bed.

"Cullen, please. I insist. Or I shall go back to my own quarters."

He watched in shock as she actually stood up and began to make her way across the room to the ladder. He was on his feet before she could make it there, wrapping an arm around her waist and stopping her.

"Alright, alright, you Orlesian girls and your dramatics. I'll let you have your way, only because I am so glad you are back in my arms again." Cullen easily carried her back to the bed, gently placing her on his plain cotton sheets. Belle smiled at him, delighted, patting the bed next to her. He stretched out next to her, only a little nervous.

"What comes next, Belle?"  
"Lie down and relax, close your eyes."

Belle fluffed some pillows for him and Cullen laid down as she bid him, letting his eyes flutter shut. He felt her hands sweeping down his chest and then her breath ghosting across his cock before she enveloped him in her mouth, making him swear under his breath. She sucked on the sensitive head of his shaft before swallowing more of him.  He kept a gentle hand on the back of her head, weaving his fingers into her silky locks. He began to feel warm all over as though a fire had been lit in the room, though he had no fireplace.  Cullen took a sneaky peek at Belle's head bobbing in his lap.

"Eyes closed, Messere!"  
"Sorry, Belle. You cannot fault a man for wanting to - "  
"And quiet please! I'm concentrating..."

He smiled to himself, squinting his eyes shut. He loved how familiar they were with each other even though they had only spent half a night in each other's company.

She kept sucking his cock, moving up and down the shaft, working him with her hand a little, getting him into a rock-hard state. Cullen began to feel blissed out and lost and that's when he knew she was casting her enchantment. He heard her voice, closer than if she had been speaking into his ear, as though it were inside his head. "Relax, Cullen. Don't think, only feel."

Cullen let go, the way he did when he meditated before battle. He cleared his mind of thought and let himself be in the moment, observing what he could without looking - noting the feel of the sheets under him, the bit of the velvet coverlet touching his right arm, the give of the feather pillow under his head, and best of all, all the places where Belle's body was touching his. He trained his thoughts on the decadence of her mouth - and then he felt someone  _kissing him_ at the same time. He opened his eyes with a gasp, but saw only Belle between his legs still.

"H-how?"  
"Cullen, that's two times I've asked you to keep your eyes closed!"

Cullen blinked them shut again with a naughty grin on his face. "Alright, I'm sorry, milady. Continue. I shant interrupt you again."

Belle got back to work, lavishing attention on his balls and the throbbing head of his cock. He relaxed again and started to feel a second presence in the room again. Lips brushed against his again while Belle kept pleasing him. This time Cullen kissed them back, choosing not to think about how strange this was. Another set of lips kissed him on an earlobe, whispering and giving him gooseflesh. " _J'taime_ , Cullen - I love you. I love you."

He felt hands weaving through his hair, while another pair swept down his shoulders. He felt the real Belle shifting on the bed, throwing a leg over him and mounting his cock. They groaned together, but he heard a multitude of groans all around him, as though there were a hundred Belles in the room with him. Belle's hips undulated and rolled on top of him. She rode him with little urgency, relishing the moment.

"Belle, I want to look at you -"  
"Just a little longer, my lion."

Cullen felt hands all over his body now, sweeping over his muscles, pinching his nipples, fingernails raked down his arms, mixing in a little pain with the intense pleasure. He gasped as he felt his balls caressed and then licked, before a mouth drew them gently into a soft, sensual mouth, and at the same time he felt a tongue _lick_ his asshole, coaxing a pleasure out of him he had never known before. At this he could keep maintain his discipline no longer, his eyes flicked open. There was no one else in the room with them, it had all been her spell. 

Belle stopped riding him, giving him a cross look that only endeared her more to him.

"Cullen!"  
  
He pulled on one of her arms, drawing her down to him for a kiss, his hands cupping her soft posterior. "Please forgive me! After so long without you, how can you expect me to keep my eyes closed?"

She took his hands off her arse and pressed his wrists down against the mattress with a steely glint in her golden eyes. 

"You threatened me downstairs, Commander that if I was disobedient you would punish me, and yet it is you who will not adhere to the rules I have set. For that -  _I shall have to be the one to restrain you._ "

She let go of his wrists and Cullen found he could not move his arms. "Belle! Come on, love, I want to touch you, is that so wrong?"

"You want to touch me - but _I_ want to possess you. You don't understand, Cullen - you bewitch me as I do you. Your release - is the purest magic I have ever known."

Belle's lips crashed against him, and she kissed him with a hunger he understood completely. She sat up again, looking down at him with a touch of feral aggression, and then her hips came back to life. Cullen could only lay back and take the brunt of her passion. Her hips rolled and bounced on his cock and since his legs were not restrained he was at least able to thrust up to make her groan louder. 

"Belle, you are too cruel."  
  
She only gave him a little giggle and continued fucking him. Cullen wanted nothing more than to reach out and touch one of her beautiful, ample breasts, to pull her down toward him by putting a firm hand on the back of her elegant neck. 

"Please, Belle, mercy - "  
  
"You are mine, Cullen - you will never belong to another after this night."  
  
Belle lit up the room prisms of dancing light. Her hair tumbled about her shoulders as she reached down to keep three fingers pressed to her pearl to amplify her pleasure. Cullen could take no more, watching the blush spread over her body. He pulled on one of his wrists and to his surprise, felt it budge a little. He flexed again, summoning his strength. Belle slowed her movements, watching him carefully.

"I don't believe it, no one has ever - "

Cullen wiggled his fingers and wrists testing the magical restraints she had put on him. A look of disbelief spread across her pretty face when he was able to raise his wrist an inch off the mattress.

"Don't you dare!"  
  
Belle's eyes widened as Cullen gave her a grin and kept struggling against her magic. He flexed with all his might and heard a distinct ripping noise as one arm became free. He gripped her soft thigh with that freed hand and a quirk at the corner of his mouth - and then tore the other restraint easily. Before Belle could react he had two hands on her hips and had flipped her onto the bed on her back, still deep within her. 

"Nothing - not even your magic - can keep me from what I want tonight."  
"My lion, my Templar, you are too strong for me - so take what you want."

Belle raised a leg, holding the back of it behind her knee, holding herself open to him even more. Cullen pushed her other knee back, leaning in to press his forehead to hers, keeping his eyes glued to hers as he began to rut into her, giving her every inch of his manhood. Belle's sweet sighs and groans were his reward and when he felt like silencing her with a kiss, her mouth intoxicated him like generous sips of the finest wines. Their sweat mingled together as his flesh slapped against hers and Belle began chanting his name under her breath.

"Belle, I am so close, but I wish I could continue all night -"

Belle whispered something he remembered from their night together - and Cullen heard it in both his ears, in his heart, inside his head. "- Surrender to me."

Cullen threw his head back, releasing his seed deep inside of her. He saw the stars above them - each one of them streaking across the sky. He saw the entirety of their unique courtship flashing before his eyes, flying backwards through time to the moment he found Belle's ring in the grass outside the Winter Palace. This time he knew she was not just another Orlesian woman at the party - he focused on her beautiful eyes under the mask, full of longing and love for him.

With a gasp Cullen was back on the bed, Belle in his arms and her head on his chest watching his face. "Are you alright?"  
  
"More than alright - but I believe you have not found your satisfaction?"

She snuggled into his side with a satisfied noise. "Rest now, my Commander - aren't you exhausted?"

Cullen surprised her by sitting up and pulling his body over hers again.

"That's not how we do things here in Skyhold. This is a place of equality. We are not in your place of business - we are in my bedroom. And I am - "

He sucked her left nipple between his lips. "Nothing - "  
He sucked her right nipple next.  "But..."  
Cullen kissed her deeply on the lips, darting his tongue against hers. "A gracious host."

He gave her a rakish grin before crawling down the bed between her legs. Belle giggled against the back of her hand, both shy and excited. Cullen gave her soft thighs two quick kisses before he parted her folds and began tracing circles with his tongue around her swollen clit. She was still aroused from their previous lovemaking but still she grew wetter under his attentions and Cullen felt that familiar magic wrapping around him again. Belle's pleasure began to creep through his mind and body, soothing the tense knots in his body, some of which had been with him since his dark days at Kirkwall. Her moans grew louder as his technique became more insistent, his tongue both flicking at her pearl from side to side and giving her indulgent swipes with the flat of his tongue. Belle filled his mouth with her sweet arousal as she pushed her head back against the pillow, her hips writhing now. The air was heavy with the her cries of delight and Cullen knew Belle was at the edge of her orgasm, so he slid two fingers deep inside her, thrusting them in and out, before he pressed his lips against her, sucking right on her clit.

Belle jerked up to sitting with a gasp and a scream of pleasure and then Cullen heard a mighty crack erupt in the sky above the fortress. Through the gap in his roof he saw three bursts of golden fireworks light up the night sky. He looked up at Belle with shock on his face, and she had clapped her hands over her mouth like a child who had been caught saying a naughty word. 

"I'm sorry!"  
  
Cullen sat up now too, hearing his men in the courtyard panicking and calling each other to arms. "Did you do that?"

"Yes, I just got so - excited! It's your fault, Cullen!"

She was all giggles now, and he wanted nothing more than to spend the rest of the night sleeping in her arms, but - 

"I have to go calm them down, make something up. There is no way they would understand the truth!"

Belle started to make a move to get up too but he cupped her jaw with one broad hand, beckoning her to lie back down.

"Stay here, wait for me. I will be back."

Cullen rubbed a thumb over her full bottom lip, gazing deeply into her eyes. "I will always be back, Belle. You tried to make me forget you - but I never did and I never will. So get comfortable. I might be ready for another round when I get back."

Belle laid back on the bed with a seductive look. "Might?"

Cullen pointed a stern finger at her before going back down the ladder. "Stay. Right. There."  


* * * * *  
  


Belle dozed peacefully, savoring the comfort of Cullen's bed, enjoying the way his linens smelled like him. At some point during the night after he had presumably calmed his troops down he had slipped back into bed next to her. The next time she saw him it was early morning and grey early sunrise light was creeping into the room. He was sitting on the edge of the bed, his back to her. Belle reached a hand out and touched him on the shoulder.

"My love? Are you not tired?"

She could tell by his body language something was wrong. 

"Cullen? Are you alright? Can I help you?"

Cullen swept a hand through his hair and rubbed the back of his neck nervously. He could not turn to face her as he spoke.

"Belle - I know I have no right to ask you this, but - I'd be lying if I said it did not trouble me. Have you..."

His voice cracked and he inhaled deeply. Now Belle sat up, pulling him on his broad shoulders to face her. He did not look up at her face as he continued.

"Have you been with many men since I laid with you?"  
"Oh, my love..."  
"I'm sorry! Never mind! Never mind my damnable mouth. You don't have to answer that. It is your - business - to do as you wish. I have no claim over you."

She crawled into his lap, wrapping her arms around him.

"Cullen, please look at me."

He looked up, heartbreak all over his face. "Please, you - needn't tell me. I'm sorry I asked."  
  
"Cullen. The Gilded Mask belongs to me - I am her proprietor. I only see  _clients_ when I wish, and only when it is of pressing benefit to my Empress. The Mask often collects secrets for the court. I am a rather high-ranking member of her cabinet, although I remain anonymous on my native soil. Which is why when _your_ spymaster's agents came inquiring after me, they could not find me."

Cullen only heard the words that mattered to him. Belle had not serviced a string of men after him. She had not parted her thighs to men who did not deserve her. He clutched her closer, breathing in her sweet, seductive perfume.

"But Cullen - what if I had told you - I had? What if I...worked at the Gilded Mask? Would you still love me?"

Before he answered he pressed a burning kiss to her lips.

"Mademoiselle Serizy, my Belle - I would love you if you told me you were a murderer and an assassin. I would love you if you were a milk maid, or a tavern wench. I would love you if you were a whore or a Chantry sister or anyone in between."

Their mouths met again and when they broke the kiss, Cullen pressed another one to the golden coin still dangling around her neck, the object that had lead him to her. A thought dawned on him. Cullen opened the top drawer in the nightstand near his bed and withdrew something, putting it in her palm. She opened her hand and looked at his gift - it was an old coin, so worn down with age she could not make out what had been stamped into its surface ages ago.

"What is this?"  
"This is my lucky coin. I've had it since childhood and often wear it around my neck when I go into battle. I want you to have it."

He slipped it around her neck. Belle then released the clasp of her necklace and unhooked it, putting her coin around his neck.

"There. And now you have my token. And we will be together - always. Even if distance keeps us apart."

After one more kiss on her lips he stood up, but Belle held on to his neck so she was dangling off of him.

"Where are you going!"  
"I must drill the troops at sunrise, my lady, I am sorry I cannot - tumble with you again this morning."  
"You abandon me, Ser! I shall throw myself from the battlements!"

She rained kisses all over any part of him she could reach before he put her back down on her feet.

"We might have a bit of time, between my work and breakfast. Shall I call on you - in  _your_ quarters, before I escort you to the main hall?"

Belle smiled at him and he felt the warmth of a thousand suns blooming in his heart. "I look forward to the sound of your knock upon my door."

  
* * * * *

  
Later that morning Maxwell wandered Skyhold, looking for his friend. Normally he and Cullen would get a bout of early morning sparring in before breakfast but he hadn't been seen since he drilled his troops at sunrise. Trevelyan knocked on all  _three_ of his doors finding them all locked. It was all very strange business, especially the spontaneous fireworks that had caused chaos the night before. Maxwell meandered a little more, finding an odd clue on one of the low walls of the battlements, a pair of Cullen's gloves lying next to a gilded mask. He looked at the objects for a while, trying to make sense of what they could mean, until his stomach rumbled. He gave up on thinking deeper on such portents and fixed his mind on breakfast.

In the great hall, Maxwell sidled up to a table heaped with delightful little Orlesian pastries. Varric was standing at a corner of the table, powdered sugar already sprinkled down the front of his vest. "Delicious little things, Inquisitor - filled with cream and jam! I'll be sad when this noblewoman takes her chefs back to Val Royeaux with her."

Maxwell was about to answer him, half a beignet in his mouth when the big double doors to the keep went swinging open. What came marching through them brought every member of the Inquisition to a standstill. Cullen was escorting the Orlesian diplomat on his arm, and she was maskless, smiling at him. Maxwell swallowed the food in his mouth as Mademoiselle Serizy and his Commander drew closer. 

"Good morning, Inquisitor. Are you enjoying my chef's handiwork? She is a treasure, I am glad to share her talents with you."

The Inquisitor stared openly at her - she was wearing _Cullen's_ lucky coin around her neck today, an object Maxwell had seen Cullen take into battle. Trevelyan's eyes went from the coin back up to her face. She was easily the most beautiful woman Maxwell had seen in a long time. 

"Your grace, I am sorry to report that after breakfast, I shall have to wrap up my little visit. One last meeting in your council room and you may summarize anything you wish for me to communicate to my Empress Celene."

Maxwell gave her a courtly bow. "I am sorry to hear of your departure, milady. Your visit has lit up every corner of Skyhold. And done wonders for a certain often-scowling best friend of mine."

The Inquisitor took a few quick glances around. Everyone was staring at Cullen, staring at the lovely noblewoman on his arm. Leliana and Josephine looked like they were about to explode from unspoken questions, as Severine made her way to the end of the buffet table to find a plate.

Maxwell grabbed Cullen by the elbow, pulling him toward his throne for a private word.

"Cullen, what in the ever-loving VOID is going on? Did you bed the Orlesian diplomat last night?"  
"You daft nug-humper, can't you see it is her? It was my Belle after all.  _She works for the Empress!_ "  
"What? I don't believe it."

Cullen clapped a hand on his friend's shoulder, a sly smile on his face now. "And Maxwell. I have incredible news for you. You might want to sit down." He gestured to the throne behind them but Maxwell just shook his head, excited now. "What is it, Rutherford?"  
  
"Belle does not work at the Gilded Mask. She _owns_ the Gilded Mask."

Maxwell slowly sank onto his throne. "Andraste smiles upon me. My best friend is in love with the proprietor of the most fantastic brothel I have ever known. Can I ask you a question?"

Cullen dropped to a knee so they could look at each other on the same level. "Does this mean - I can have a discount?"

Cullen threw his head back and laughed grandly until Maxwell joined him. "I do not know, Maxwell. But we can find out - when we are on our mini-break in a few weeks? What say you we return to Val Royeaux?"

Maxwell stood up and gave him one of his big brotherly bear hugs. "As you wish, Commander. As you wish."

  
* * * * *  
  


A few fortnights later, Belle came back to the Gilded Mask after running a handful of errands for her business. She had much on her mind, from simple things like making sure the brothel's larders were well stocked with fine food and their wine casks never ran dry, to the more complicated issues of state like solidifying Celene's reign over the often chaotic corners of her realm. She also worried about her girls, one of them might be with child and another one might be in love, one wanted the right to leave and marry a customer, and another might be named as the principal reason a scorned wife was filing for divorce. Belle checked the small table at her door where her correspondence was usually left and found no letter from Cullen. She tried to ignore the little knife point of pain near her heart, choosing to clutch the coin around her neck instead. 

_He is busy, he has his own matters to attend to._

A second voice in her head followed that one.  _Or perhaps he no longer cares for you._

Belle tore off her mask, gloves and hat and dropped them on the bench near the door. Her own doubts made her want a drink. She headed down the set of stairs to her salon but stopped in her tracks.

A pair of boots was propped up on an ottoman. A man was seated on her divan, with his back to her. Belle felt a little panicked as she specifically told the hostess downstairs she would be too busy to receive no visitors today. She looked toward the knife she kept on the bar cart to slice limes and lemons. With a few quick steps she could have it at hand. She cleared her throat, addressing the stranger in her native tongue.

_"Excuse me, monsieur, but - I am not available today. If you return downstairs, my hostess can make sure you are set up with another young lady of your choosing."_

The gentleman spoke back to her in careful, but a little clumsy, Orelesian.  _"Forgive me, mademoiselle, but I have only come to see you."_

She watched the pair of boots stand on her carpet as the man turned to face her. With a gasp, Belle ran toward Cullen's open arms, almost knocking him off his feet, kissing his face all over.

"What a wonderful surprise! I did not think we could see each other so soon after my visit! I did not dare to dream of it."  
"Well, here I am, and I can stay with you for an entire week - if you will have me, of course."  
"Oh, of course, I shall spoil you every moment you are here in the capital."

Cullen cupped her chin, rubbing it with a thumb, studying her face. "One day, when my battles are over..." He seemed unable to continue, his eyes full of passionate emotions.

She brushed a golden curl off his forehead. "Hush, my lion. Let us enjoy today and the moment at hand. So what do you say to dinner, wine, bath, a massage, and -"

Before she could finish, Cullen swept her off his feet and started heading toward the bedroom. Belle giggled as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"You. In your chambers. Now. That is all I need."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for hanging in there during that long pause! Kudos accepted and are tax-deductible. I think. Don't quote me on that.
> 
> I'd like to try something different for my next Cullen fic so stay tuned for an AU-Modern Thedas sort of thing.


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